


unsolved

by xiaodejun



Series: unsolved [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Based On Buzzfeed Unsolved, Getting Together, Ghost Hunters, Ghosts, Humor, Kissing, M/M, Romance, Scary, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Tags to be added, cameraman!jeno, chenle and jisung get to hear lots of scary stories, death mentions, i mean there are horror elements i guess, jaemin and renjun are roommates, this is just season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2019-09-05 20:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 32,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16817674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiaodejun/pseuds/xiaodejun
Summary: “Actually, I’d love to start a ghost-hunting Youtube channel,” Renjun said and took a sip of his drink.“Oh my, guys, I think Renjun’s mojito isn’t actually virgin.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.“It is. Just like your sorry ass.”Jaemin and Renjun try to prove each other something.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> shoutout to @hearteyedbea for encouraging me!! check out their fics uwuwuwuwu  
> enjoy uwu

“Actually, I’d love to start a ghost-hunting Youtube channel,” Renjun said and took a sip of his drink.  
“Oh my, guys, I think Renjun’s mojito isn’t actually virgin.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.  
“It is. Just like your sorry ass.”

It was another normal Saturday evening. They always spent them in the same way: they would invite their friends to their place and drink non-alcoholic beverages. Renjun called it “kids’ meeting”. That was only partially true, since one of their friends, Mark, became an adult that year. But no matter how often they joked about it, they couldn’t kick him out. After all, he was a friend.

That evening was no different. Chenle and Jisung were discussing something passionately, their voices low. Mark and his best friend, Donghyuck, were for some unknown reason playing rock-paper-scissors. The game seemed to be very heated.

Renjun, Jaemin, and Jeno were seated on a sofa.  
“I’m just saying… It wouldn’t make sense to base an entire channel on something nonexistent.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.  
“Okay, Jeno, scratch the idea for ‘Jaemin’s sex life: the channel’, he’s right.”  
Jeno tried to hide his smile behind a glass but it didn’t work.  
“Your eyes are smiling, traitor. I thought you were supposed to be neutral!” Jaemin pouted.  
“I am, I am. Sorry, that was just funny…”  
“Almost as funny as Jaemin’s beliefs. You really think ghosts aren’t real?”  
“I _know_ they aren’t, idiot. It’s basic science.”  
“Basic science, my ass. You’re just scared,” Renjun hummed.  
“Am not.”  
“Are, too.”  
“You’re the one that’s scared. After the bottle incident you were ready to burn the house down.”  
“Jeno, better hold me if you don’t want me to throw hands with this kid.”  
Jeno rolled his eyes and separated the two.  
“No throwing hands today,” he said. “And… Here’s a fun idea. Maybe you guys should start a channel together? Like… go to haunted places and try to prove that ghosts are or aren’t real?”  
“That is…” Renjun raised his eyebrow.  
“A brilliant idea! Unless you’re too scared of not getting any proof of your stupid ghosts existing?” Jaemin jumped with excitement. “Scared, Renjun?”  
“You wish.”  
“Hey! No Harry Potter quotes!” Jeno rolled his eyes. “So… You both agree.”

“Agree on what?” Donghyuck lifted his head up, interrupting the conversation. Suddenly the only thing disturbing the silence was Jisung’s voice.  
“No, Chenle, you can’t just make an infinite chocolate bar.”  
“Well, then what about THIS?” the Chinese boy showed him a sketchbook with some drawings.  
“This is still not eviden… Oh, my God. Everyone’s staring.”  
“Yes, we are,” Mark said slowly. “Chenle, can I see these drawings later?”  
“Sure.”  
“Cool, now… What are you guys agreeing on?”  
“Renjun and I are starting a Youtube channel to prove ghosts aren’t real,” Jaemin smiled.  
“To prove ghosts _are_ real,” Renjun corrected.

“That’s cool!” Donghyuck smiled. “Is Jeno going to be the cameraman?”  
“That’s a great idea, Hyuckie! See, Jeno, you have a job now.” Renjun clapped and poured himself a glass of non-alcoholic mojito.  
“Oh, hooray. I have a job now,” Jeno said without enthusiasm. “You guys have to do some research on haunted places though.”  
“That won’t be a problem.” Renjun got up. “I’ll be back in a sec, Hyuckie, take care of my mojito.”  
“Yes, sir.”

Renjun went to his room and smiled. Finally, he had an opportunity to prove it once and for all. He wanted to win over Jaemin _so hard_. He knew ghosts were real, he knew from the very beginning of his life. He didn’t need to prove it to himself. But the thought of Jaemin finally acknowledging the truth was thrilling. And showing it to the world…

He took a big, old notebook out of a grey box. He smiled and looked at it.  
“Finally,” he said. “Our time to shine.”

“STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF, CREEP!” Jaemin shouted from the living room. Renjun sighed and went back to his friends.  
“What’s that?” Jisung asked. Donghyuck smiled.  
“Please tell me it’s a notebook with a list of haunted places, please tell me it’s…”  
“It’s a notebook with a list of haunted places,” Renjun announced. Hyuck almost jumped out of his chair.  
“Hell yeah!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which renjun tells a story which scars chenle for life

“So nobody is going to question Renjun’s sanity?” Jaemin asked with disbelief, watching his friend going through the notes with Donghyuck.   
“I mean, we know how they both act.” Mark shrugged. “Hyuck knows his tarot cards and Renjun knows his… aliens…”   
“Exactly. We been knew,” Chenle said and tried to bite his mojito straw. “Ow, for fuck’s sake!”   
“Language!” Hyuck lifted his head up.   
“Sorry, _someone_ gave me a metal straw.”   
“They’re eco-friendly,” Renjun said. “Now, I think I have something nice for beginners like us.”

“Beginners? I beg your pardon.” Jaemin pretended to be offended. “I haven’t believed in ghosts since the year 2000.”  
“Look, we could just go to Gonjiam hospital. But you would die.” Renjun rolled his eyes.   
“I would not!”   
“Guys, please. Let’s not argue about this now. What do you have, Junnie?” Donghyuck smiled, laying his head on Renjun’s shoulder. The dark topic wasn’t making him uncomfortable.  
“Oh, it’s not a famous place, I doubt you’ve ever heard of it, Hyuckie.” The other boy ruffled his hair.   
“You guys are gross, stop.” Mark definitely seemed uncomfortable. _And_ jealous. Chenle and Jisung exchanged knowing looks.   
“Tell us,” they said simultaneously.   
“Should the kids listen to scary stories? Jisung is basically in kindergarten,” Jeno raised his eyebrows. The mentioned boy sighed.  
“I’m not a child, stooop. Now, let Renjun tell his scary story.”

“Okay, so… It’s in our town, actually, and…”   
Donghyuck almost jumped. His eyes were already sparkling with excitement.   
“Can I try to guess? Please, I wanna guess.”   
“You’re more hyped than Jaemin, and he is the one doing the video with Renjun,” Mark said, visibly annoyed. Donghyuck didn’t notice that or pretended not to, as he wrapped his arms around Renjun.   
“Mean. Tell us, Junnie.”   
“It used to be a restaurant. A pretty good one. But then… Bad things started to happen.”

And as he said that, the weak light of their floor lamp went out. Mark screamed, and so did Donghyuck.   
“Chenle, Jisung, I swear to God…” Jeno started, his voice a bit shaky. The boys laughed together.  
“We should have recorded THAT,” Chenle giggled and turned the lamp back on.   
“Let him tell the story!” Donghyuck was growing impatient. After a few seconds of laughter, the youngest boys looked at Renjun expectantly.   
“The owner lived above the restaurant with his wife and son,” the Chinese boy started. “They were struggling at the beginning, living on the breadline. But the town’s population started growing and the restaurant became popular, all of a sudden. The family became rich, really rich. For a while they were happy. But it wouldn’t last long. First, the owner’s wife died in a mysterious accident. She fell out the window, from the second floor. The police thought she slipped.”   
“Let me guess. You think someone pushed her.” Jaemin snorted and poured himself some orange juice.  
“Not just anyone. Her husband did. Family friends say their marriage wasn’t happy and she wanted to leave. And she had a great opportunity as she inherited a large sum of money.”  
Once again, Jaemin was the one to interrupt.   
“Oh, this is _such bullshit._ When did it happen? I don’t think divorces were really that popular.”   
“They weren’t. But she had a plan, she wanted to leave ‘to take care of her cousin’. With the kid, of course,” Renjun explained patiently. Donghyuck was almost sitting on his lap.   
“He must’ve been a real monster. He killed her?” his voice was trembling a little. He loved ghost stories, but he was sensitive and the thought of the poor woman trying to make her life and her son’s life better brought tears to his eyes.   
“Probably. But it didn’t stop there. When the son left to visit his grandparents, his father…”   
“Let me guess,” Jaemin sighed and put down his glass. “He was found dead.”   
“Yes, stop joking. It’s a sad story.”   
“I’m not laughing at his death. I’m laughing about your stupid theories.”  
“Guys, please. What happened to the owner?” Mark straightened up.   
“He was found in the same place they had found his wife. Some thought he couldn’t live without her, or that the guilt was too much. But, considering the sudden wealth and fame they gained… Some suspect that he made a deal with a higher power. And it came to get its payment.”

Jaemin laughed, spilling juice on the floor.  
“This is literally the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.” He wiped off the juice drops. “What, the guy dies and it’s suddenly some demon’s fault? Also, what happened to the son?”   
“He moved out of the town to live with his grandparents. No one knows what he’s doing now.”   
“Ridiculous,” Jaemin hummed. “But okay, let’s go there and see your _demon.”_  
“I never said it was a demon, and you’re being mean.”

They were ready to fight again, but they were interrupted by Chenle.   
“Okay, guys, I have an idea. Let’s make it a sleepover today.”   
“Sure. But why? Don’t want to sleep alone?” Renjun looked at him with worry in his eyes.   
“No, it’s just cold outside. I don’t wanna catch a cold or something.”   
“Liar,” Jisung whispered, rolling his eyes. “You’re shaking like… a scared person or something.”   
“Kids, stop fighting. Or you’ll end up like Renjun and Jaemin. Or Donghyuck and Mark.”   
“We’re not fighting!” Mark said, but Hyuck’s stare made him question that statement.

Jeno and Jaemin prepared mattresses and bedsheets while Renjun made “the kids” some warm milk.   
“Now let’s sleep,” he said, handing them mugs. “Tomorrow we’re recording~”  
“Oh, sure. What about the equipment?” Jaemin asked, wrapping himself in a blanket.   
“Don’t worry about that, idiot burrito. I have everything ready.”   
“You scare me sometimes.”   
“I know, I know. Goodnight, guys.”

A whole lot of ‘goodnights’ later Jaemin could finally fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back!! i'll try to update it more often ksdjsjhd   
> hope you liked it uwu


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> packing is hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is a long chapter  
> enjoy!!

“I cannot believe. I am… I think I’m going to faint, can you open the window?” Jaemin said in a weak voice, looking at a small pile of various things laying on the kitchen table. Some of them he wouldn’t be able to name if someone asked him.   
“You sound like some nineteenth-century lady seeing her neighbours ankle and suddenly realizing she’s a lesbian,” Renjun said with a smile, looking through the said pile. Donghyuck giggled and put on a Ghostbusters cap.   
“Oddly specific but he does. It’s not that big of a deal, Jaeminnie. Just some… Ghost hunting stuff,” he hummed, showing Jaemin a small sound recorder.   
“It has been in our house for how long, exactly?” the boy sat on the chair and took a deep breath.  
“For… some time,” Renjun said with a devilish smirk.   
“I cannot believe.”   
“You’ve mentioned. It’s nothing big, just the basics.”   
“A giant holy water bottle is included in the basics?!” Jaemin took said bottle and showed it to Donghyuck. “How did you even hide these things?”   
“That’s my sweet, sweet secret. I don’t understand why you’re so weird about it.” Renjun was busy looking through all the gathered things and making choices.   
“Well, you have never mentioned that we have some ghost equipment in our house! That we share! And half of this stuff looks extremely dangerous, what would you do if someone got hurt? Like… Jisung! You shouldn’t keep sharp objects in this house, the babies come here often!”

The youngest boy lifted his head up and pouted.   
“I’m not three, guys, it’s not like I get hurt every time I decide to pick something up…”   
“I beg to differ. Remember the knife yesterday?” Chenle said with an innocent smile.   
“I slipped!”   
“The baking pan that fell on your knee…”   
“It’s just a small bruise!” Jisung furrowed his eyebrows. His best friend smiled and poured himself some tea.   
“The TV remote…”  
“Shut up! This is bullying! You are bullying me, Zhong Chenle. And it’s not like you’re any better, remember when you slipped in the shower and told everyone you got into a fight?” Jisung smiled triumphantly and Chenle blushed like a tomato.   
“That was a secret!” he screeched and smacked his friend’s head. The discussion transformed into a small, not dangerous, fight.

“I am starting to think… That they shouldn’t live without some adult supervision. I mean, besides Mrs Jisung’s Grandma.” Donghyuck sighed, watching them with anxiety.   
“I agree. Maybe we should ask Jeno if he wants to…” Jaemin started, but he was interrupted by a loud “NO!” from the youngest boys. Chenle quickly sat on Jisung’s lap and smiled like an angel.   
“No, no. We’re good. We’re the best. Now show us the dangerous ghost stuff.” He reached for his tea and smiled even wider. Jaemin and Donghyuck exchanged amused looks.   
“Show us what you’ve got there, Junnie,” the latter said with excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Renjun hid most of the things in a black bag.   
“Okay, so this is what we’re gonna use today,” he said, pointing to the remaining objects. “Sound recorders, of course. Jeno has a camera, but here are mics to connect to our phones so we can have personal cameras…”  
“You had microphones in there!” Jaemin interrupted him.   
“Yes, I told you I was prepared, Nana. Anyway. This is Ronald the Christmas Reindeer. He’s a Rudolf knock-off, but more importantly, he has a motion detection system. He will start singing whenever something moves in front of him.” To prove it, he turned the toy on and waved in front of its green nose. The small speaker started making weird noises which sounded like something between a Christmas song and a demon’s laugh. Chenle covered his ears.   
“This is more creepy than those fake ghosts,” the sceptic announced.   
“They’re not… We’re not having this discussion now. Some flashlights. We can use them to…”  
“See something,” he was interrupting him again, but Renjun didn’t seem to mind.   
“Yes, but also to communicate with ghosts.”  
“What’s next? Do we also have an Ouija board here?”   
“I’m impressed, you know the name,” Donghyuck said, raising his eyebrows.   
“I’ve seen some movies, Hyuck, I’m not an idiot. So? Do you have the board, Renjun?”   
“Nope. Not yet. I kind of feel like it would disappoint my grandma. _A lot.”_ The boy shuddered at a mere thought of his grandma finding out.

“Wow, I’m so ready to watch you two hunt ghosts!” Chenle said, putting down his tea.  
“Well, you’ll have to wait a bit before we show you the video.”   
“We could go with you?” Jisung said with a small smile. Jaemin shot him a terrified look.   
“Never. You guys are like, toddlers. You are not allowed there,” he said. “People have _died_ there.”   
“We are not… That won’t convince you, will it?” Chenle sighed and looked at Jisung with exasperation. The younger boy sighed.  
“Never. Now, who wants some hot chocolate?” Donghyuck smiled as everyone in the kitchen said “me!” in a different tone.   
“Shouldn’t we wake up Jeno and Mark first?” Renjun asked, packing his chosen items. The rest simply shook their heads. No one wanted to wait, especially for these two. Waking them up could take ages. Hyuck started preparing everything and the kitchen fell silent. Everyone was thinking about different things.

Renjun felt a little nervous, he had to admit. He _knew_ ghosts were real. And he knew it was almost impossible to get any proof just like that since it was their first time and they didn’t have professional equipment. He was more nervous about going there with _Jaemin._ He wanted to maintain his image of a horror enthusiast. But being a believer had made him realize that ghosts can be dangerous. Renjun wouldn’t call himself _afraid of ghosts._ He was just… Respectful. That’s all.

Evening came faster than they thought and it was time to leave. Renjun packed his backpack and made sure every phone had full battery. Jeno smiled at him.   
“No need to be stressed,” he whispered.   
“You’re sure?”   
“Yes, I am. It’s gonna be… Interesting. Maybe we’ll see Jaemin scream.”   
Renjun giggled at the thought.   
“Would be fun,” he admitted and hugged the other quickly. Jeno rolled his eyes.

Donghyuck basically threw himself at Renjun, who caught him with a smile.   
“Have lots of fun~!” The Korean boy wrapped his hands around him. Mark turned his head to Jisung and started discussing some stupid things with him. Jaemin sighed.   
“We’re going to a place where two people died. Fun is not the right word.”  
Renjun hugged Donghyuck back. It was nice to have a supporter. And a believer. Someone on his side.   
“Thanks, Hyuckie. We’ll be back late, you guys can order food and watch a movie.” He ruffled Donghyuck’s hair, but his hand stopped when Mark looked at him disapprovingly. Oh, right, they had that weird thing…

“It’s like a second sleepover in a row!” Chenle squeaked. Jisung closed his eyes and pretended to have a headache. Mark sighed.   
“Be careful,” he said. “Don’t lose any limbs.”  
“Exactly!” Donghyuck hugged Renjun even tighter and the Chinese boy was really struggling to breathe.  
“You’re crushing me…” he whispered. His friend let go of him and smiled.   
“Sorry, Junnie. See you.”   
“Get ready for some solid proof of ghosts!” He showed them thumbs-up. “Let’s go, guys.”

And like that, they left the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof that was long for me sdjjdhkdj   
> hope you liked it!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first haunted place is quite something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!!!

They were standing in front of a building with faded, yellow walls and broken windows. Still, it looked pretty modern and normal. It wasn’t destroyed, not even spray painted. Jaemin ran a hand through his hair.   
“You know, I didn’t imagine it to be… Like that,” he said, watching the building.   
“Why? Did you think it would be completely ruined? It would be risky and I’d need more gear for this.” Renjun rolled his eyes.   
“It looks so… Normal.” Jaemin shrugged. “Not haunted.”  
“Scared?” Renjun couldn’t stop the small smile forming on his lips. Jaemin rolled his eyes.   
“Someone’s delusional. I’m even happier with this.” He looked around.   
“People still died here, Jaemin.” Renjun raised an eyebrow at him.   
“Well, I feel bad for them, I’m not laughing at the dead.”

Jeno interrupted them, saving himself from bickering  
“Maybe let’s do an introduction?” he said, making sure the camera was stable and recording. Renjun smiled and fixed his hair.   
“Good thinking. Come here, asshat.” He dragged Jaemin by hand and looked into the camera. The other boy puffed his cheeks.   
“Ass what?”   
Jeno sighed and massaged his temples.  
“Guys! Introduction, please.”

Renjun fixed his shirt and took a deep breath. They should’ve planned an introduction. Or _anything._ He slowly let go of Jaemin’s hand. Another deep breath. It felt almost like giving a speech. And he didn’t like that.   
“Be natural,” his friend whispered in his ear. “It’s okay, we can edit it later.”

Renjun sighed again.   
“Ready?” Jeno asked with a warm smile.   
“Sure.”   
“Then… Action!”   
“Hey! My name’s Renjun and this is Jaemin.” He gestured towards his friend, who smiled. Lucky guy had an acting talent.   
“That’s right. Today we’re investigating the Kim family restaurant.” Jaemin moved a bit to the right, revealing the building. Renjun bit his lip.   
“It is believed to be haunted by two ghosts… And some say something even worse.”   
“It is believed only by _some_ people.” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “I am not one of them, but… Let’s get into it.”

“Okay. We’re gonna put the story Renjun recorded here,” Jeno announced. The Chinese boy nodded. They did record an audio of the restaurant’s story. It was Jeno’s idea, a very good one.   
“Great. Let’s gooo. Turn on your camera, Jaeminnie, and get ready to be attacked by a real ghost.” He smiled a little. _A chance to prove it._   
“Sure.” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “By a bat, maybe.”

They came to the door and Renjun took out the keys.   
“Where’d you get that from?” Jaemin squinted, looking at his hands. The keys looked old, not used, but not _ancient._  
“Sweet, sweet secret,” the boy hummed, looking for the right one. He liked that saying. He liked having his secrets. They always surprised Jaemin.   
“Whatever you say.”

But a minute passed and Renjun still hadn’t opened the door. Jaemin once again looked at his hands and raised his eyebrows. His friend’s hands were shaking. _A lot._  
“Umm, Junnie?” he asked softly. He didn’t want to make fun of him, he was genuinely worried. Renjun was usually composed.  
“I’m alright. It’s the caffeine,” the Chinese boy said through his teeth. His voice was a little shaky, too. Jaemin was suddenly hit with a realization.   
“You’re _scared,”_ he said. How come he hadn’t noticed before? __  
“I’m not! Just too caffeinated, I tell you.” Renjun glared at him in his special, frightening way.  
“Are you scared of ghosts?” Jaemin bit his lip. He didn’t want to laugh. Especially when Renjun looked so… Insecure about it.   
“Shut up,” the boy sighed and finally opened the door. “And don’t be a bitch about it. I’m just… respectful. And cautious around them. Now, after you, Mr Brave Pants.”

They entered the restaurant in silence. Everyone turned on their flashlights and the two explorers started recording with their phones. The restaurant looked like any other restaurant, with pseudo-wood walls and traditional decorations. There was graffiti on one of the walls, but that would be about that when it came to damage. Jaemin sighed, touching the table slowly.   
“Wow. It looks so… Normal. Like it was just closed for a week.”   
“Tell that to the spiders.” Renjun pointed to the webs hanging from multiple places. The creatures sure were well fed.   
“Gross,” Jaemin hissed, making a few steps back. He shuddered a little. “Let’s just… Avoid the spider places.”  
“Sure. Umm, hello?” Renjun shouted towards the kitchen. Silence. Jaemin snorted.   
“What do you expect them to do? Come out like ‘oh, hi guys! We’re dead!’? Come on, dude.”   
“Just wanted to say hi. So they know we’re here. We’re not going to hurt you!” He looked around, simultaneously hoping he’d see a ghost and that no ghosts were present here.

“I don’t think that’s gonna make them show themselves. They feel safe now.”   
“Well, would you rather make them angry?” Renjun raised his eyebrows. He instantly regretted this. Jaemin’s eyes sparkled as he straightened up.  
“Absolutely,” he said with a smirk and put his hands around his mouth. “Hey, GHOSTS!”   
“Na Jaemin, don’t you fucking dare…” his friend whispered, feeling all the blood leaving his face. Jaemin just smiled and looked around.   
“WE’RE IN YOUR LAME RESTAURANT, GHOSTS! COME FIGHT ME!”   
“Jaemin!” Renjun felt like he was about to faint. _Unbelievable._ He didn’t want to die because of his friend’s stupidity. But apparently, he had no choice. Jaemin was already going somewhere.   
“Okay, you’re not stopping me? So we’re going to your beloved kitchen!”

They entered the room and Renjun started talking again. He really just hoped that Jaemin would forget about this whole mess.  
“The kitchen is believed to be an active place. Mrs Kim really liked being here and the current owner believes he saw her twice, cooking. A local medium also heard singing voices here,” he said, pointing to the certain spot in which the medium heard the sounds. Jaemin looked around.   
“Oh, is that so?”   
“I beg you, just don’t…” Renjun whispered, his voice weak. But it was too late.   
“I’M GONNA KICK THE CUPBOARDS AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!”   
“I’m not with him! I just wanted to talk! Respectfully!” he squeaked, looking around. Jaemin was very amused by this. He kicked the cupboard.   
“See? They don’t care. Because they don’t exi-“  
“Shut up! Do you hear that?!” Renjun hissed. They fell silent.

And then they heard it.   
Someone was walking upstairs and it sounded like that someone was very angry. Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows and Renjun clung to his arm.   
“I hear it, too,” Jeno said quietly.   
“Oh my God,” he whispered. “You made them angry. They’re gonna kill us.”   
“Stop being such a baby,” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Let’s go and check that out! It’s gonna be fun.”

“This is not fun,” Renjun said, slowly walking up the stairs. He felt chills running down his spine. It was awful. “Not fun at all.”  
Jaemin smiled and looked at him.  
“Oh, come on. What is above the kitchen?”   
“The house part. Their bedroom, to be specific.” Renjun really, really did not want to be there. But Jaemin just rolled his eyes.   
“Oh, isn’t that ideal,” he said. “If there are any ghosts, they’ll show up.”

They entered the room and Renjun gasped. Of course, it was untouched. As if its inhabitants were out on a date night and not in their graves. There were family pictures on the walls, books on the nightstands and even a sleeping mask next to the books.   
“I beg you, don’t say anything,” he said, looking at Jaemin. The entire room gave off strong ‘avoid this place’ vibes.   
“Hi, ghosts! And hello, demons, of course. What’s up, bastards? Thought you scared us?”   
“I hate you,” he groaned. 

“Don’t you want them to talk to us? I do. So we brought this,” Jaemin said and took out a spare flashlight.   
“Na Jaemin, what are you planning…”   
“This is a flashlight. I’m putting it on your bed! Now we can communicate.”   
“Hate you _so much,”_ Renjun whispered, watching as his friend did exactly what he’d said. He had a really bad feeling about this.   
“Now, ghosties. Turn this light off if you don’t want us in your house.”

For a moment nothing happened. Jaemin laughed.   
“See? You just need to chill, Renjun, there’s no such thing as ghosts.”   
And at this exact moment, the light went out.   
And God, did Renjun scream like he was being murdered. Jaemin raised an eyebrow.   
“Oh, this is pretty cool. Switch it back on if you’d love to personally strangle Huang Renjun with your ghost hands.”   
Renjun screeched like a wild bird and Jeno whispered: “dude, oh my God”.   
And then the flashlight turned on.

“Oh no,” Renjun whispered, paralyzed. Jaemin looked a bit paler than usual. He looked at his friends and bit his lip.   
“You know what? Let’s get out. I think Renjun’s gonna faint soon,” he said.   
“Yes. Yes, let’s run. I mean, go.” the Chinese boy grabbed him by the sleeve and ran down the stairs. Jeno was right next to them. They got out of the restaurant pretty fast, panting and looking back nervously.

“So, that was the Kim restaurant,” Jaemin said slowly. “The investigation interrupted by a very panicked wild Renjun.”   
“Let us know what did you think,” Renjun said. His voice was a bit shaky and he was still holding Jaemin by the sleeve. The other looked at him and smiled.   
“God, you’re cute when you’re scared.”  
“Literally what the fuck,” the Chinese boy hissed, letting go of his sleeve.   
“I think we left the flashlight there,” Jeno noticed.   
“Well, I’m not going back to get it. It’s fucking cursed now. Can we please go home?”   
“Of course.” The cameraman turned off the device and looked at them. “Let’s go.”

Renjun looked at the building for the last time and he could swear he saw a shadowy figure in the window on the second floor. He quickly grabbed Jaemin’s hand.   
“Let’s go,” he repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are getting longer :00   
> which team are you on? are ghosts real or not?  
> i hope you enjoyed that uwuwu


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's good to be home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a very soft chapter enjoy uwu

They entered the house and were greeted by a very surprised Donghyuck. He looked at them and furrowed his eyebrows, worried.   
“Wow, you guys look _exhausted._ Weren’t you supposed to stay there a bit longer?” he asked, taking the backpack from Renjun and helping Jeno with his camera. The Chinese boy bit his lip. He felt a bit guilty and ashamed for running out of that house.   
“Well, yeah, but…” he started, but was interrupted by Jaemin.   
“But Renjun got scared.” He took off his jacket and looked at his friend. “Junnie, give me your coat.”   
“I can hang it myself, I’m not _that_ short,” he huffed. He got on his tiptoes and did that. A second passed and the coat fell off the hanger. Renjun gritted his teeth. He knew his friend wouldn’t laugh at him, not now, but he still felt so… embarrassed.   
“Can I hang it now?” Jaemin asked with a delicate smile.   
“Shut up.”   
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” he hummed.

Donghyuck gently took Renjun’s hand into his own.   
“Junnie, you’re _shaking,”_ he said with a concerned look on his face. “What happened? What did you see?”   
“Don’t make me say that. Wait until you see the video,” Renjun said and hugged his friend. He was warm and alive. And he was Donghyuck.   
“Okay, honey. Let’s go to the kitchen, I’m gonna make you guys some warm milk.”   
Jeno and Jaemin quickly joined them, the latter with a weird look on his face.

The kitchen was occupied by two little gremlins who were busy playing some game on two pieces of paper. One of them lifted his head up and grinned.  
“Hi! Tell us the ghost stories!”  
“I don’t think you should listen to that, Jisung,” Jeno said, raising an eyebrow. “You’re still a baby.”   
“Well, I’m not scared. Chenle is.” The boy gestured towards his friend, who was still very absorbed in the game. Or he seemed to be.  
“Shut up, I’m not. Bitch,” he said without moving. Renjun covered his mouth, trying not to laugh. The fear was slowly leaving his body and he was starting to feel better. Being around his friends sure helped.   
“Language,” Donghyuck said, taking out a pot to warm milk in. “Now, who wants milk?”   
Everyone did.

Chenle pouted and looked at Renjun.   
“Can you tell Mr Smartass here that ‘a frog’ doesn’t count as a word starting with A?” he asked, shooting Jisung an annoyed look. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows.   
“What are you guys doing?” He looked at the pieces of paper. “Oh, no. You’re playing the weird game again.”  
“It helps Chenle learn new words.” Jisung’s smile was almost innocent. The youngest boy ruffled his friend’s hair. “And it’s educational.”   
“’A FROG’ IS NOT A SINGLE WORD!”

“Who wants to hear some ghost stories?” Jaemin interrupted them quickly.   
“We do!” they said together. Renjun smiled and sat down. He still felt a bit cold.   
“So… The demon spoke to us,” Jaemin said in his scariest voice. He was obviously making fun of it, but it reminded Renjun of the flashlight. And the figure in the window. He shuddered, the cold feeling was back. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and when he opened them, Jaemin was looking at him.   
“What,” Renjun murmured. He hated that. He hated being scared, it was stupid.   
“Did you catch a cold? I think you did,” his friend said, a little louder than usual. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows. Was Jaemin _covering_ for him?   
The next second made him even more surprised. He felt something soft being put on his shoulders. _Jaemin’s hoodie._ He lifted his head up, looking at the taller boy.   
“What,” he mouthed. He didn’t receive an answer, just a soft smile that made him feel a little safer. He put on the hoodie and sighed in content. It smelled nice and it was so warm…

“Milk for you, Junnie. And go to bed when you’re done drinking,” Donghyuck said.   
“Thanks. Where’s Mark?” he finally decided to ask.   
“Asleep on the couch. Didn’t want to wake him up.” Hyuck’s expression softened and Renjun giggled, wrapping his hands around the warm cup.   
“You love him so much.”   
His friend’s face turned red instantly.   
“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he choked out. “He’s my friend. _And_ I am fighting with him now.”  
Renjun rolled his eyes and was ready to say something, but Jaemin was first.   
“Why? Because he went to the bar with Xuxi? Of course he did, they’re adults and friends.” He rolled his eyes and started washing his cup. “And it happened _a week ago._ But here you are, sitting on Renjun’s lap everytime it’s possible. You want to make him jealous so bad.”   
“I don’t… It’s not…” Donghyuck looked around, searching for help or a miracle. But it didn’t come. “Shit, why are you always right about that stuff?”   
“Because you two are obvious.”

Renjun finished drinking his milk and closed his eyes. Maybe he could just take a quick nap… That could work… He leaned into something warm next to him. Like a nice, breathing pillow.  
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” oh, the pillow spoke. And it had Jaemin’s voice.   
“Mmmhgggh,” he said. In Sleepy Renjun it translated to ‘leave me alone’.  
“Okay, cool. Let’s just… Get you to the bed.”   
He was being lifted up. Oh, God.   
“Hnnnmf,” he murmured into the pillow. Or Jaemin. Whatever. That meant ‘sleepy’.   
“I know, I know.” Jaemin seemed to understand him perfectly. “We’re just going to the bedroom.”

And soon he found himself laying in his own, very cold bed.   
“Cold,” he said, this time in Korean. Jaemin looked at him.   
“It’s going to get warmer soon. Just wait. I’m gonna go now, good ni-“  
“Stay.” Renjun didn’t know what he was doing. He just knew it was cold and he was a little scared. Being alone wasn’t exactly in his Top10 of things to experience right now. And Jaemin understood. He got into the bed.   
“Ok, I’m here. Sleep now? You need some rest, you look like a zombie.”   
“Hug.”   
Jaemin chuckled and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.  
“The guys will never let us forget this. It’s great blackmail material here. Goodnight, Junnie.”   
“Night.” And with that, Renjun was already asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading i hope you liked it   
> it's snowing today so im s o f t


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aa i changed my username skhjsh  
> also i apologize for any mistakes uwuwuwu enjoy

Renjun woke up to squeals and screams. Next to him, someone was snoring. That someone’s arms were wrapped around his waist, giving him warmth. He looked at that person.  
“Jaemin,” he hissed, trying to move. “Jaemin, wake up.”  
“Nooo.”

He struggled for a minute, trying to get up. It was impossible, the other boy was too strong. He sighed.  
“Jaemin!”  
“I’m sleeping…”  
“The guys are screaming. Someone’s killing them. It’s a murderer,” he tried.  
“Good for them.”  
Renjun growled quietly. What a bitch. He had to do something without attracting the others’ attention.

“Jaeminnie,” he hummed, tickling him. The reaction was quick. Jaemin squeaked, letting go of him.  
“Why?!” he said, looking betrayed. Renjun rolled his eyes and sat up.  
“The guys are making weird noises. I wanted to check if they’re alright. Let’s go.”  
“You’re very energized,” Jaemin noted, getting out of the bed.  
“I am. Wait, who dressed me in pajamas?” Renjun looked at his clothing.  
“I did. Don’t make a face, your underwear is still in place.”

He sighed and put on a bathrobe. It was soft and warm. It still couldn’t replace Jaemin’s arms, but was pretty nice. Wait, what? Renjun looked around, panicked, as if anyone could read his thoughts. Stupid. It was just his sleepy mind, still waking up.   
“Let’s go and see what it’s about.” And just as he said this, the weird sounds could be heard from the living room once again. Jaemin sighed and led him towards the noise.

The TV was on and everyone was watching.  
“Hey, guys,” Jeno said with a smile. “We’re watching the video before uploading.”  
“What about the editing?” Renjun asked.  
“I did it last night.”  
“While you guys were cuddling!” Chenle said with a wide smile. Renjun could feel his face getting red. They saw? Or maybe the little gremlin was bluffing. Probably. He hoped so.  
“Yes, look at that,” Jisung showed everyone his phone with a video playing. It was a recording of Renjun’s room, at night. Video-Jaemin was playing with video-Renjun’s hair, humming something.

“Oh God,” real Jaemin said, turning red. Renjun sat down on the floor, very flustered.  
“Can we watch the scary video now?” he asked, laying his head on the sofa. Jaemin nodded. He didn’t look so ashamed anymore, his confidence was back. Donghyuck shot him a look.  
“You seem very proud of yourself.”  
“Well, what can I say? I didn’t do anything wrong. We all love pampering Renjunnie.”  
“Oh, you're absolutely right.” Donghyuck laughed as he surprised Renjun with a quick kiss on the cheek. The Chinese boy hit his arm. His friends were insufferable.  
“Stop that,” he said, even more flustered. “Just play the damn video.”

Jeno finally pressed play, saving him from this absolute hell. They all focused on the video playing and Renjun was impressed. The editing was no joke, it all looked so... Professional.

“My voice sounds stupid,” Jaemin said, cringing.  
“It's nice, my voice sounds weird.” Renjun covered his ears. Oh God. Was that how he sounded to everyone?  
“I can explain you how it works.” Jisung rolled his eyes. “But it won't make you feel better.”  
“Shut up, science baby,” Renjun rolled his eyes. “We had biology, too.”  
“Tell me later,” Chenle whispered. They got back to watching.

“Oh, this one's gonna shock you,” Jeno said. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the screen, which was now black with white text:

**THIS IS WHAT OUR AUDIO RECORDER PICKED UP AS JAEMIN WAS KICKING THE CUPBOARDS.**

And then, a recording of someone whispering. A clear “stop that”.

Renjun covered his mouth, trying to muffle his squeak. Jaemin snorted.  
“Like that's real. That was probably just Renjun.”  
“It’s a female voice,” Donghyuck said, quickly climbing onto Mark's lap.  
“I’m with Jaemin on that,” Mark hummed, wrapping his arms around Hyuck's waist in a protective gesture. “Ghosts aren't real.”  
“Keep watching and we'll see about that,” Renjun murmured. He kinda wanted someone's arms around him, too. But he ignored that feeling. He wasn't afraid. It was over, wasn't it? Once again he thought of the shadow figure and shuddered. Was it really?  
“You alright?” Jaemin asked softly, looking at him. He shook his head.  
“Just thinking.”

They watched the whole video until the end. Donghyuck looked at Mark with triumph in his eyes.  
“And? Don't you believe in them now?”  
“The flashlight was probably just an electricity phenomenon,” Mark shrugged. Jaemin clapped.  
“Exactly!” he said with a smile.

“I left the best for now,” Jeno said, switching recordings. “I’m not sure if we should leave it in. This is what Jun's personal camera caught when we were leaving.”  
Renjun watched with wide eyes. The shadow creature was very much visible.  
“Oh my fucking God,” he whimpered. Donghyuck screamed.  
“That’s a full body apparition right here!”  
“That’s Jeno's shadow,” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. “Nothing special, we all have them.”

“Mmm. Now we're gonna record a summary and you'll tell us about this. And then I'm uploading it.” Jeno turned off the TV. “Let’s go.”  
“What about breakfast?” Jaemin raised his eyebrows. Renjun closed his eyes.  
“I’m not hungry,” he murmured.

“That’s… a lot of subscribers,” Jaemin said, leaning over Renjun’s shoulder. It was Friday night and they were checking their Youtube account. Jeno smiled with pride.  
“How does it feel to be famous?”  
“Weird,” Jaemin said, reading the comments. “Woah, some people are horny.”  
“Gross!” Renjun closed his eyes shut. “Pass me the notebook, Jaemin. We need to pick the next location.”

A few minutes passed in silence, interrupted only by the sound of paper being moved. Jaemin was watching the smallest boy with fascination. “What?” Renjun finally asked.  
“You’re pretty when you’re focused like that."  
“Shut up, oh God.”

Another minute and Renjun smiled.   
“I’ve found it. This one’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might actually write another chapter today im in a MOOD  
> enjoy uwu

“Annnd… The camera’s recording,” Jeno said, turning towards the backseats of the car they were in. It was dark outside so he was using a flashlight.  
“Hello, everyone,” Jaemin said with a smile. He was clearly very sleepy, but it didn’t stop him from being cheerful. He could multitask, after all. He tried to do something about his messy hair. “As you can see, we are in the car… We have a special guest today. Say hello to Mark, the man with a driving license.”   
“Hi.” Mark didn’t look at them, focused on the road. Jaemin rolled his eyes and focused on the camera again.

“So, Renjun’s also here, and he is… eating. What are you eating?” he asked, looking at the other boy. It didn’t take Renjun long to smack him.  
“Shut up,” he said, swallowing whatever he was eating. “We’re cutting it out.”  
“Maybe. Renjunnie’s here to tell us where we are going!” Jaemin jumped in his place. His friend shot him a tired look.   
“Can I finish my coffee bar first?”  
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a coffee bar. Because it’s five am and we! Are! In! The car!” Jaemin clapped his hands, clearly very amused by what he was doing. Renjun wasn’t as enthusiastic. He had spent the entire night talking with Donghyuck and he’d only gotten 2 hours of sleep. He hoped Jaemin’s enthusiasm would make up for his grumpiness. With that thought, he finished eating his caffeine bar.

“Now that you’ve eaten, can you finally let us know where we’re going? Because, get this, everyone, I don’t know either.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.   
“Look at him,” Mark said, causing Jeno to focus his camera on him. “Ten subscriptions and he thinks he’s Korea’s next top MC.”   
“It’s more than ten. Asshole.” Jaemin pouted. “Am I being funny, Renjunnie?”  
“Guys, please,” Renjun rolled his eyes, trying to shake his friend off of his arm. Let me introduce our destination.”   
“Finally!”

“We are on our way to…” and he started talking. But Jaemin lost his focus immediately. Instead of listening, he was staring at Renjun, fascinated. The smaller boy seemed to be very enthusiastic about their trip. All of his grumpiness was gone and replaced with a smile. His hair was still messy from sleeping in the car and his hoodie was definitely _too big_. Jaemin smiled. _How cute._

Renjun shot him a weird look and the taller boy realized his staring was… pretty obvious. He decided to do what he could do best – bullshit his way through this.   
“Oh, that sounds fun,” he said, nodding. Renjun raised his eyebrows.   
“I just described the geographical surroundings.”  
_Well, shit,_ Jaemin thought and did the only thing acceptable in this situation. Finger guns.   
“Yay for geography!”   
Renjun rolled his eyes and fixed his hair.

“Anyway… Just next to the city there’s a mall. It was build fifteen years ago and closed fourteen years ago. The ground it was built on used to be a cemetery. Rumour has it not all of the bodies were removed.”   
“Bullshit,” Jaemin interrupted him, causing Mark to snicker. “They had to remove them. It’s the law.”  
“Yeah, ok, Mr Lawyer. Anyway. It was closed after a year because of various unusual… accidents, such as power outages, a flood, three fires… And the list goes on,” Renjun said in his most mysterious voice. Once again Jaemin was not convinced.   
“Well, sometimes places are unlucky. I’m pretty sure I’ve caused more fires in our apartment. Am I haunting it?” Jaemin asked. Renjun smacked him immediately.   
“ _Your cooking_ is haunting us,” he snorted, which earned him a quiet _exactly_ from Jeno. “Anyway. Visitors also reported seeing a little girl running around the parking lot and hearing footsteps. Staff complained about weird sounds, such as laughter and voices. One of them, Mrs Yoon, says she would sometimes hear screaming in the corridors.”   
“And once again, people scream from time to time. Imagine working in the most unlucky place in Korea. You’d need a place to go and scream sometimes, or else you’d start choking people, Jun.”   
“I would never!” the Chinese boy said, but he looked at Jaemin in a way that was basically a promise of choking. Jaemin smiled. _Don’t show fear._

“Back to the story. The mall was closed because it wasn’t very popular…” Renjun started and, once again, was interrupted.   
“God, I wonder why.” Jaemin snorted.   
“But that didn’t stop the unusual incidents from happening. The lights turn on and off. Voices can still be heard. Mannequins move from place to place without anyone’s help.”   
“Okay, that’s pretty fucked up,” Mark said suddenly. Jaemin was sure he’d seen the older shudder.   
“Thank you for your insightful comment, Mark, it is, indeed. Many people don’t even want to drive by the mall because the mere sight of it is cursed enough.”   
Jaemin couldn’t help but laugh.  
“And we’re going right there. Sounds fun!” he said cheerfully and looked at his companion. His smile faded. Renjun’s face was a little pale, but he noticed mischief sparkling in those eyes.   
“Oh, Jaemin, Jaemin. We’re doing so much more than just visiting this place.”   
“We’re going shopping,” he guessed. The silence in the car was heavy, and he knew only Renjun was familiar with the plan. Jeno furrowed his eyebrows.   
“Oh, tell us,” he finally said. Jaemin nodded quickly. Renjun giggled.

“We’re staying overnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked it


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaah and there it is!! another chapter uwu   
> underlined text is chinese   
> i know it's tagged as scary but if you need me to tag anything more specific pls let me know!!  
> enjoy

“I still cannot believe, Huang Renjun,” Jaemin whispered as they were getting out of the car. Mark opened the trunk and sighed.   
“Well, the amount of stuff you packed makes sense now,” he said, looking at multiple bags. Renjun smiled.   
“See? I’m a man who plans.” He took out the bags and put them on the ground. His smile turned into a mischievous grin. “Now, Jaemin. Remember talking about your gym membership for the past two weeks?”   
The boy tried to slowly leave, but he was caught by Renjun.   
“Who’s Jaemin?” he asked, looking around with wide eyes. His friend smiled and gestured towards the bags.  
“Now, use these strong arms of yours.”

Mark was walking slowly. The mall was right in front of him, looking so… normal. He snickered. Haunted, sure. It was just another empty building, a building that could be used as so many things…   
But it was empty, just standing there, in the middle of nowhere, with its sinister aura and scary rumours. And mannequins, apparently.   
“Mr Huang, I assume,” someone said right next to him. He jumped and looked at that someone, who turned out to be a middle-aged man in a SECURITY uniform.   
“No, just his driver, but he’s on his way,” Mark said and turned around. Of course, the Chinese boy was still fighting with Jaemin over the bags, while Jeno was recording the whole thing. Mark sighed and started calling him. “RENJUN!”   
The boy lifted his head up and smiled. He said something to Jaemin and ran towards them.  
“I’m here. Hello, Mr Lee. Nice to see you,” he said, still smiling. The man shook his hand.

Jaemin finally decided to take the bags. He watched Renjun talk with a security officer for a few minutes, a bit surprised. He recalled meeting the Chinese boy for the first time, his shy smile and basic Korean. Now? Now Renjun was right there, talking about technical things and security issues without any problems. Confident. Jaemin was proud. He smiled and bowed as the man walked away.   
“Wow, that was… surprisingly nice.” He looked at Renjun, who rolled his eyes.   
“Yes, I know. I am nice, Jaemin. Open your eyes and see the truth.”   
“Sure, sweetheart,” he hummed. A few seconds later, Renjun was already choking him.   
“Guys, I’m recording!” Jeno said, trying not to laugh. Jaemin screeched, trying to ask for help.   
“Great,” Renjun said with a smile. “I’d love to watch that later.”  
“Bitch,” Jaemin managed to say.

They got closer to the mall and Jeno decided to film a short bit. Mark tried really hard not to be visible while the other boys fixed their hair.   
“And… Action.”  
“So, the camera is back on, hello!” Jaemin smiled and looked at the building behind them. “This is the mall we’re spending the night in. Cool place. Ten out of ten from me, five stars.”  
“Wait until you get inside,” Renjun said with a nervous smile. “Anyway. It’s ten in the morning and we have talked to the security already. Now we’re going to the city to grab breakfast and hopefully talk to the people who live there.”   
Jaemin rolled his eyes.   
“That’s gonna be fun. Hey, guys! Tasty coffee, wanna talk about ghosts?”   
“Shut up.” Renjun took his bag and started walking towards a small building. “So, we’re going to leave our stuff with the security and put up some cameras.”  
“I’m waiting outside,” Mark said quickly. The Chinese boy looked at him.   
“Oh? Someone suddenly believes in ghosts?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
“You wish. I just… Don’t like mannequins.” Mark looked around as if he was already surrounded by them. His friends nodded in a silent agreement. No one likes mannequins.   
“You can stay with the security guards. You and Jeno. Talk to them. Interview them.”   
“While you’ll be setting up the cameras? Guess ‘cameraman’ is just my nickname?” Jeno pouted.   
“The viewers love you. They’ll love you two interviewing the security.”  
“Okay. Just promise we won’t see any mannequins,” Mark said.

They turned on their phones as Renjun opened the door.   
“We are inside,” he said, excitement obvious in his voice. Jaemin smiled and looked around. It was just a regular mall, of course old. But it was so _empty._ It made him shudder. Jaemin loved shopping and he would often go out with Renjun and Jeno to shop. He was used to big malls, always crowded, always loud, a little anxiety-inducing. But this? This was another level of anxiety. He looked around. The shops were empty, without shop names or clothes. But still…  
“The fucking mannequins, I swear to God,” Renjun hissed as if he was reading Jaemin’s mind. They were _everywhere,_ some of them faceless, some of them with fake mannequin smiles. Jaemin filmed them up close and took a few photos. He noticed his friend was already scared.   
“I can’t decide which are worse, those with faces or withou… FUCK!”

There was a mannequin right in the middle of the hall. A _child_ mannequin.   
“Hey, kiddo,” Jaemin laughed. “Are you lost? Want us to help you find your mom? Your _mom-equin?_ ”   
Renjun screeched.   
“You are literally the worst. We are putting a camera here.” And he did, taping it to the floor and making sure it actually recorded something.   
“Yes, we are, mannequin child. Don’t you dare break our camera, or else WE will haunt YOU.” Jaemin touched its forehead. Renjun shuddered.   
“I literally hate you so much right now,” he hissed but grabbed Jaemin’s hand anyway. “We have two cameras, where are we putting the other one?”   
“Let’s see.”

They walked around the floor a bit. The lights were on, but Renjun felt like he would prefer them not to be. The artificial lightning only made it worse. He held Jaemin’s hand tight. The other boy didn’t comment that, luckily for him. Renjun would absolutely choke him again.   
“Well, Junnie, I think we’re unlucky. I don’t hear any noises. And the mannequins are not moving,” Jaemin sighed when they got to the first (and only) floor.

And at that exact moment, they heard footsteps somewhere behind them.   
“Ohmygodifuckinghateyounajaemin,” Renjun hissed, not wanting to turn around. Of course, the first thing Jaemin did was turning around.   
The lights went out.  
“Ghost?” he called out into the darkness. “You there? Would be a pity if you weren’t.”   
“I’m gonna kill you!” Renjun whispered.   
“Not if the mannequin does it first.”   
“The… why would you say that?”   
Renjun’s nails were kind of _in Jaemin’s hand_ , but he tried to focus on the sounds. And there it was, once again, on their left and far, but the noise was there.   
“I’m not saying it’s a ghost, because it’s probably just water somewhere…” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “But doesn’t it sound like plastic feet walking on the floor?”  
“Tape the fucking camera here or _I swear to God_ I will be the person who kills you,” Renjun hissed, his face white like a sheet of paper.   
“I can’t. You’re crushing my hand with yours.”

Renjun let go of his hand and looked around.   
“We are on the first floor,” he said, trying to film it with his phone. “There was… A power outage, again… And…”   
The footsteps were behind him again.”  
“CAN WE GO NOW?!” he screamed, switching to Mandarin. Jaemin did not speak Mandarin, but he knew a scared Renjun when he saw one. He made sure the camera is on and recording, took his hand and ran down the stairs.

They ran the entire way to the exit. When they finally got out, Renjun almost collapsed on the muddy ground.   
“I’m gonna fucking die.”  
“Hi, guys! You’re done with the cameras?” Jeno asked, approaching them. Mr Lee was right next to him, visibly concerned.   
“We had a power outage,” he said slowly. “We haven’t had those for quite a long time.”  
Jeno looked at his friends and furrowed his eyebrows.   
“God, guys, are you ok?”   
“Absolutely not. Thank you, Mr Lee. We will be back in a few hours,” Renjun said and took a few shaky breaths.   
“Where’s Mark?” Jaemin asked, looking around.   
“In the car. The thought of haunted mannequins might or might not have scared him to death,” Jeno smiled. “Let’s go, guys, I’m hungry.”

Renjun looked at the building and shuddered.   
“Yes… Yes, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might actually write another one tomorrow   
> thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comments or hmu on twitter @aesthetic_sol


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is an accidental filler dksjjdkahjhd  
> enjoy!!!

The breakfast was uneventful. Jaemin tried to ask a few people about the mall, but they weren’t very talkative.   
“I don’t think they’ll tell us anything,” he finally said. Renjun bit into his waffle and looked at him.   
“It’s because you don’t ask the right people, you idiot,” he said, raising an eyebrow.   
“Oh, and he speaks again.” Jaemin took a sip of his coffee. Until that moment Renjun had been quiet, still scared after their… adventure at the mall.   
“Shut up. Anyway… You’re asking people in a rush. Businessmen. People walking with dogs. Parents with children,” the Chinese boy listed, rolling his eyes.   
“And how almighty Renjun who is never scared would handle this?” Jaemin asked and immediately got hit. “Ouch!”   
“You deserved it. Anyway. Watch me and learn, baby.” Renjun stood up and went to another table. Jaemin watched him in silence. _Baby?_ Did his friend get possessed?

Renjun chose an elderly woman as his first target. He put on the nicest, sweetest smile and made sure he looked neat and clean before he came to her table.  
“Excuse me, madam, mind if I talk to you for a second?” he asked. The woman showed him a chair and greeted him. They talked for a few minutes, about the weather, grandchildren and breakfasts, before she noticed the phone and the mic Renjun had in his hand.   
“Are you a journalist? I love journalists,” she said with a wide smile. “And I love interviews.”  
_Bingo,_ Renjun thought and smiled.   
“I’m… Yes, kind of a journalist. We’re preparing a video about the mall behind the city and…”   
“Oh, I hate that place.” She nodded as a sign to start recording. “No one smart would build _anything_ on cemetery grounds.”   
“Have you heard about the hauntings?” Renjun asked and gave her the mic.   
“I did,” she said. “They deserved that. But I’ve never seen anything, I don’t go anywhere near.”   
“And what about your family?” he asked. The woman smiled.   
“I’d never let them. This building is full of angry spirits. You’d have to be crazy to spend even a few minutes there.”  
“Thank you,” Renjun said. He suddenly felt very cold. “That was very helpful.”  
“Good luck with your video!”

He got back to the rest with a triumphant smile.   
“Well?” he asked, looking at Jaemin.   
“Pure luck,” the boy murmured. “You just look like a grandson.”   
“Oh, you think so? Then… Guys, will you watch our breakfast and order me some green tea? We’re going to investigate.” Renjun took a bite of his waffle and grabbed Jaemin’s sleeve. Jeno rolled his eyes.   
“Of course. Just hurry up.”

They walked for a bit, Renjun was looking around carefully and Jaemin made fun of him.   
“You look like you’re hunting,” he giggled. The smaller boy huffed.   
“Stupid. I am hunting,” he said and then stopped. Jaemin looked around. They were standing in front of a university building.   
“And we’re here because..?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. Renjun just smiled, his eyes focused on a small group of students. They were all men, and they all looked strong.   
“Oh, great. Let’s get beaten up by jocks. You love adventure, don’t you?”   
“I could beat them _all_ up if that makes you feel safe. But it’s not the case. Stay here and watch.” Renjun let go of his sleeve and walked up to the group.

Jaemin watched with furrowed eyebrows. His friend was smiling. _Cutely._ Renjun never acted in a cute way, unless he wanted something. So watching him do that was… weird.   
“Hey,” Renjun said. “You guys come here often?”   
Jaemin almost choked. Was he _flirting?_  
“Do you? Because if yes, we’ll start to,” one of the jocks said.   
“What a pity, I’m just visiting. Anything you’d recommend for a tourist?”   
They started naming some places, and Renjun pretended to listen.   
“And, well, you can always go for the haunted shopping mall,” one of them said. Renjun was only waiting for that.   
“Funny that you mention it,” he hummed. “I’m actually shooting a video about this place!”

Jaemin closed his eyes. That was... Hard to watch. _Only_ because Renun was an awful flirt. No other reason.  
“You are?”  
“Yes, and I’m really excited. Why, do you guys know something?”  
They all nodded.   
“Oh, wow. Would you like to tell me? On camera? I’d be _eternally_ grateful.”

A few minutes later the camera was on and the first boy was speaking.  
“We went on a camping trip near that mall once. We wanted to go there at night. It was... a mistake.”  
“Why?” Renjun pretended to shudder.   
“We saw someone in the window. A little girl,” another one said, his voice low. “And then she disappeared.”  
“Oh, God,” Renjun whispered.   
“But that’s not all. I saw a mannequin walking,” the third guy chimed in.  
“I heard a girl went there to stay overnight... And never came back.”  
The students told a few stories like that, every one scarier than the previous ones. And they were just stories, but after the experience he’d had in the morning… Renjun bit his lip.   
“Thanks, guys. Give me your numbers so I can let you know when the video is up.” He winked and a few seconds later he had all of the numbers. He said goodbye and joined Jaemin.

“What’s up? You look pale,” he said, fixing his hair.   
“I’m hungry. Let’s go.” Jaemin grabbed his hand. Renjun looked at him, surprised.  
“Yes, let’s go,” he said softly. Jaemin didn’t usually act like that.

They got back to the cafe, where Jeno and Mark were eating croissants.  
“What’s up?” Jeno asked. “why is Jae mad?”  
“I’m not,” the boy said and pursed his lips.   
“I flirted with some jocks and, for some reason, it got Mr Angry here into caveman mode.” Renjun sat down and took a sip of his fresh green tea. “Mmm, delicious.”  
“Wait until you try the croissant. It’s _otherworldly,”_ Mark said, his mouth full.  
“You’re either being dramatic or...” Renjun bit into the pastry. “Dude, holy shit...”  
“I know, right?”

Jeno and Jaemin were having an entirely different conversation.   
“So what happened?”  
“Nothing, I don’t know. I was just worried about him, he came up to a group of buff dudes and started flirting,” Jaemin whispered. “He could’ve got himself into some deep trouble.”   
“But did he?”   
“No… But it was dangerous.”   
“Aren’t you jealous?” Jeno asked and took a sip of his tea.   
“I can flirt with buff guys as well, it’s not like it’s Renjun’s special power.”   
“You are so stupid,” Jeno said in disbelief. “Just… Don’t act like that. You don’t want to lose Renjun.”   
The mere thought of it made Jaemin dizzy. Lose Renjun? _He would die._

“Jaemin, you have to try the croissant,” the Chinese boy leaned over the table.   
“I have to wha…” He wasn’t able to finish the sentence because _someone_ put a croissant in his mouth. But that someone’s eyes were sparkling with joy and Jaemin just couldn’t be mad anymore. Especially with a tasty croissant in his mouth.   
“It’s really good,” he admitted. Renjun smiled.   
“We have interviews, we have breakfast… Is there anything we don’t have?”   
“Proof ghosts are real,” Jaemin said, earning a kick under the table.   
“Let’s go shopping when we’re done. Hyuck really wanted me to buy him some souvenirs,” Renjun said with an innocent expression.   
“Sure.” Jeno smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhh im sorry i havent updated for like a week holiday break got me procrastinating  
> also sorry if the formatting is fucked up im posting from my phone  
> Enjoy!!! uwuwu

“Are you guys ready?”  
“I don’t think so,” Renjun gulped.  
“Well, you won’t get readier from staring. It was your idea,” Jaemin said but grabbed his hand. “Look at me, Junnie. Ghosts don’t exist.”  
“Of course they do, dumbass,” Renjun hissed, intertwining their fingers. Mark already left, he was spending the night in the city. They were standing in front of the mall, filming the views.

"Hey, ready to get inside?” Jeno pointed the camera towards the two.  
“Well, we won’t be more ready.” Jaemin squeezed Renjun’s hand.  
“Cool. I’m gonna faint.”  
“Okay, I’ll catch you.”  
The Chinese boy couldn’t not smile.

“Okay, everyone, we’re going inside the haunted mall. As you know, we have two cameras inside. And... we’re spending the entire night here.” Renjun smiled.  
“As a reminder: we’re here to prove ghosts aren’t real,” Jaemin said. The smaller boy kicked him.  
“To prove they are.”  
“Ouch.” Jaemin reached to his knee with a pained expression. Renjun bit his lip.  
“That wasn’t me, it was the ghost.”  
“Excuse me, I‘m being attacked by a maniac.” The taller boy looked at Jeno. Help me out, dude, his eyes screamed.  
“Sue me,” Renjun hummed.

Jeno finally finished taking pictures and gestured towards the mall. The Chinese boy sighed and squeezed Jaemin's hand. He was really starting to regret this. He'd rather stay with Mark in a hotel.  
“Okay.” He looked at the building with determination in his eyes. “Into the dark dimension, we go.”  
“Dramatic dumbass,” Jaemin hummed, very amused. They finally entered the mall and for a few seconds, darkness surrounded them completely.

“Flashlights!” Renjun whispered. They turned on the flashlights. The mall lights were turned off for the night and the sun was too low to brighten up the halls. The mannequins were still there, and maybe it was Renjun’s imagination, but they seemed to be in different places.

“Ok, let’s go.” Jaemin looked into the camera. “We’re inside the haunted shopping mall. Our cameras have been here since morning and we’ll now check if they’re still here.”  
“I have a fun idea,” Jeno said with a smile. “You guys could split up.”  
“Sounds good to me.” Jaemin booped one of the mannequins on the nose. “Me and Mr Harold here are going to be a team.”  
Renjun shuddered.  
“Friendship ended with Lee Jeno, now I am my only friend.”  
“So are you in, Junnie?” Jaemin smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair.  
“Do I have a choice? No, I don’t.” Renjun massaged his temples. “I’m in, but you and Mr Harold go upstairs. I’m staying here with an alive man.” He gestured towards Jeno.  
“Oh, so I’m a man now?” Jeno raised an eyebrow. “Got an upgrade from a boy?”  
“We didn’t call you cameraboy, did we?” Renjun huffed. Jaemin laughed.  
“Oh, so I’m not alive now?” he asked, earning a punch from the smallest boy.

“Wish me luck, I’m going,” Jaemin finally said, turning on his phone camera. Renjun bit his lip. He was... Worried? Maybe so.  
“Be careful, okay?” he whispered and took Jaemin's hand into his own. The taller boy laughed.  
“Will you kiss me goodbye?”  
“Bitch,” Renjun hissed. He waited a few seconds for Jaemin to focus on something else and then got on his tiptoes to kiss his cheek quickly.  
“I HAVE THAT ON CAMERA!” Jeno screamed, his voice echoing through the mall. Renjun’s face was on fire.  
“Shut up,” he murmured and looked at Jaemin's dazed face. “Just go already, stop staring.”

Jaemin left them alone. They exchanged looks, not really sure what to do. Finally, Renjun decided to do something and take the lead.  
“Let’s go,” he said, fixing his hair. He looked at Jeno. “The camera is taped to the floor next to a child mannequin.”  
“Great idea, guys. Wonderful.” Jeno didn’t look amused, and neither did Renjun. But the Chinese boy was feeling a little better. He did embarrass Jaemin, after all.  
“Is our cameraboy scared?” he said with a smile.  
“I knew you’d use it against me. Just... take me to the mannequin child.”  
“With pleasure.” Renjun smiled and lead him forward.

“Oh, shit.” He stopped suddenly.  
“Oh, shit? What?”  
Renjun pointed towards the camera, which was laying on the floor, recording only their feet. Jeno shrugged.  
“Someone knocked it over, big deal.”  
“No one got inside. And the mannequin... God...” Renjun whispered. The mannequin was in an entirely different position. And it was smiling. He didn’t remember a smile. He was going to comment on it somehow, but then...

The silence was broken by a scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: 4TH JANUARY  
> hi, unfortunately i will be posting a little less since my computer is broken :(( i'll try to write on my phone tho! wish me luck ;;;


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about any mistakes, im still on my phone :((   
> happy new year, enjoy!!

“Jaemin!” was Renjun’s immediate response. He felt a cold shiver running down his spine. He ran straight to his friend, ignoring everything else. Fuck mannequins, fuck ghosts...

Jaemin caught him in his arms.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “I’m good, I just tripped and got scared.”

“Fucking asshole!” Renjun screeched. “Irresponsible idiot! Something could happen to you!”

“Junnie, baby. I don't understand Mandarin.”

Before Renjun could react to the 'baby' part in any way, Jeno joined them, panting heavily.

“Damn, you're fast,” he said, looking at the Chinese boy. “Is it like a superpower or...?”

“Shut up,” Renjun said and the boys didn’t have to know the language to understand. Jaemin just rubbed his back gently, trying to help him calm down. While Renjun was quite a scaredy cat, he didn’t usually act like this.

“What happened?” Jeno asked.

“Well, I kinda... Got scared and tripped over my shoelaces.”

Renjun bit his lip.

“Scared of what?” he asked quietly, leaning into Jaemin's touch even more. The taller boy sighed. 

“There was a mannequin, caught me off-guard.” He pointed to the said mannequin, standing near their camera.

Renjun felt his whole body go cold suddenly. The mannequin was tall. It was a full body. White. It didn’t have eyes. Very noticeable. And it definitely hadn't been there before.

“Jaemin,” he murmured. “They can't walk, right?”

“We just... Didn’t notice it before,” the tall boy said, but he didn’t sound convinced. Jeno pointed his camera at the mannequin.

“How could you not notice THAT?”

“I don’t remember it,” Renjun said. “I do remember hearing steps. Plastic steps.”

“Stop, it's stupid.” Jaemin looked around. “Let’s go investigate a bit before we go to sleep.”

“No way I'm falling asleep here,” Renjun whispered. Jaemin seemed to have regained his confidence. He tapped the mannequin's arm.

“Excuse me, sir, which way to the most haunted part of the mall?”

The figure fell down on the floor and its hand moved, pointing at the dark hall. Renjun took a few steps backwards.

“Don't even try going there, Na Jaemin.”

“The wind knocked it down. Chill. And... We could split up if you don't wanna g...”

“Who said I don't? I'm in.” Renjun grabbed Jaemin’s hand and squeezed it tight. “Take me to the darkest corridor.”

“How very flirty of you,” Jaemin snickered.

“Shut up.” Renjun’s cheeks were red. “Just... Let's just go.”

They disappeared into the darkness. Jeno got a great shot of that, it was poetic, but still…

“Guys? Flashlights,” he said, entering the darkest part of the hall as well. Jaemin giggled.

“It’s fun this way. Right, Renjunnie?”

“Give me my flashlight back, idiot bitch.”

“I don’t speak Chinese but that was definitely a curse word,” Jeno said with a smile. He turned on his own flashlights and proceeded to almost have a heart attack.

“THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!” Renjun screamed. The hall was full of mannequins, some of them in weird positions, looking like a dramatic renaissance painting. Renjun was basically clinging to Jaemin’s arm now.

“Hey, ghosts!” the taller boy said. “We’re here, we’re going shopping! On your GRAVES!”

“Jaemin, respect the fucking ghosts,” Renjun hissed.

“Yeah, went a little too far,” he agreed. “Sorry, ghosts! But still… We’re here to shop. We were BORN to shop. And you can’t stop us!”

Renjun lifted his head up and furrowed his eyebrows. He definitely heard a laugh from the end of the hall. A high-pitched laugh.

“Am I the only one hearing this?” he whispered, looking at his friends. Jeno shook his head

“Nope, I am, too.” He pointed towards the end. “You have your EVP recorders on?”

“Yeah,” Renjun murmured.

“I am not hearing a thing,” Jaemin said. At this moment, the laughter got louder, as if the person laughing was getting closer.

“Oh, oh my fucking God.”

“What was that, Jaeminnie?” Renjun couldn’t not smile, even though his hands were shaking.

“I’m just… so disappointed in you two. It’s the wind.”

The Chinese boy rolled his eyes.

“Sure. The wind is just having a good laugh, huh?”

“Maybe it likes my jokes.” Jaemin tried to look into the darkness.

“You, mister, are hopeless.”

“Well, I'm not. You are my hope.”

Renjun choked. Was he hearing that right.

“You... You... oh, shut up,” he squeaked, his cheeks getting red. That wasn’t something he expected.

Soon they reached the hall’s end. It was... Surprisingly empty.

“Nothing here. No ghosts, no... Mannequin friends.” Jaemin moved his phone around. “I suggest we sleep here.”

“I suggest you shut up.”

“It’s here or the mannequin space.”

“I hate you,” Renjun whispered and took out his sleeping bag. He felt like he was being watched. The laughter wasn't there anymore, but the silence made it even worse.

They soon were in their sleeping bags, Jeno setting all his equipment to record. Renjun sighed and looked at Jaemin.

“I'm not falling asleep.”

“Good luck. I'm already sleeping.” And with that, Jaemin closed his eyes. His breath became regular and Renjun rolled his eyes. What an idiot. What was he supposed to do now? Lay awake and ignore the footsteps downstairs?

Wait.

Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope im not too scary.jpg


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aksljalkjflvsk that was so fun to write but im also very scared so,, enjoy

“Jaemin.” Renjun sat up and shook his friend’s arm, feeling more and more panicked every second.   
“Sleeping,” the boy mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. In any other situation, Renjun would call it adorable. But not now. Not in this type of hell.   
“Jaemin, move your sorry ass immediately,” he hissed, looking around. Whoever or whatever was making that noise was definitely getting louder. Or closer…  
“’M busy now, call me tomorrow.”  
“Jaemin!” Renjun pinched his shoulder. He’d apologize later, now they had to move.

The Korean boy woke up almost immediately. He also looked very hurt about it. Again, something to think about later.  
“What?”  
“Do you hear that, too? Tell me you don’t. Please,” Renjun murmured, looking around.   
“Hear what?” Jaemin rubbed his eyes, still sleepy and not exactly the brightest.  
“Thank you, God,” his friend whispered. Sweet, sweet silence. Maybe it was all a dream.

 _Thump._  
“What was that?”  
“Why would you say that,” Renjun whispered, getting pale. “I thought we had a deal.”  
Jaemin was no longer sleepy. He got out of his sleeping bag and started grabbing his equipment.  
“Stop moaning and get your stuff ready.”   
“Wow, someone’s suddenly a believer,” Renjun whispered, rolling his eyes. Jaemin smacked his arm lightly.  
“You wish. I’d be more scared of a burglary situation. Or of the dudes you met yesterday. Maybe they came here to say hi.” He finished packing and kicked Jeno’s sleeping bag. “Wake up, Jeno! We need to get up.”   
“What,” the other boy hummed, sitting up quickly. He looked around, a little confused, but he quickly understood what was it about. “Oh, shit. Grab the equipment, maybe we’ll get a possessed mannequin video.”  
Renjun almost screeched.  
“How did you make this worse?”

They finished packing and setting stuff up quickly. Renjun felt his hands shake as he was recording with his phone. He felt a bit like fainting, but the guilt eating him alive wouldn’t let him do anything about it. After all, he was the one telling all those strangers about their trip. And now they might have been in danger. Because of him. He bit his lip. Great.

The warm hand touching his icy cold fingers made him jump. He looked at Jaemin, surprised.   
“Don’t blame yourself for this,” the taller boy whispered, intertwining their fingers.   
“But I…”  
“Nope. We’re not going to Blame Town. Stop that.”  
“I was the one who…”  
“Shut up! Or I’m taping your mouth,” Jaemin said with a smile. Jeno snorted behind them.   
“Or you could kiss him,” he said, already filming them. Renjun’s ears were suddenly burning.   
“Shut up,” he and Jaemin said at the same time. The Chinese boy cleared his throat.  
“Let’s just… go and see what’s the noise.”

They left their sleeping spot, heading towards the stairs. Renjun was dizzy, and the feeling of anxiety and fear was getting more and more intense as they were getting closer. He focused on Jaemin’s fingers and the potential victory of proving the existence of ghosts. He had to take that risk, for every ghost hunter. And for science. As long as his grandma doesn’t find out.

“God, the ghosts are gonna get scared of you, Renjun,” Jeno whispered. “You’re so pale right now. And you have the shiniest eyes. You look like a skeleton.”  
“You look like a skeleton,” Renjun hissed. Jaemin looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.  
“Remind me to buy you a dinner when we get out of here.”  
“Can’t say no to free food.” He tried to smile, but his face was literally frozen with fear. He let Jaemin lead him down the stairs and into the abyss.   
“Did you guys feel that?” Jaemin asked suddenly, touching his hair.   
“Feel what?” Renjun almost jumped, looking around nervously.  
“I… Nothing. Wind touched my hair and I panicked.”  
“Maybe it wasn’t wind,” Renjun whispered.   
And at that exact moment, his flashlight just turned off.

“What the fuck,” he hissed in Mandarin, hitting his knee with it.   
“Bat-“  
“Don’t even try saying ‘battery’, Na Jaemin, or I swear to God…”  
“No, no. I mean… Bat. As in… There’s a dead bat, I think.” Jaemin pointed towards a weird, black shape on the floor. Jeno said something that sounded like “holy fucking hell”. Renjun bit his lip. He finally managed to turn his flashlight back on, but he wasn’t really happy about it now.   
“Yay. Let’s see,” he murmured. As they came closer, he realized it wasn’t a dead bat. It was definitely made of plastic. It didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t seen it before.   
“Hey, give me gloves and an evidence bag,” Jaemin said, letting go of his hand.   
“What, are we playing CSI?” Renjun snorted, looking for those things.   
“First of all, yes. And second… There’s some weird fluid-y, sticky stuff on that. I’m not touching that with my bare hand.”  
“Good thinking.”

As they were trying to get the bat into the bag, Jeno was watching something with a really weird expression. Renjun finally straightened up and looked at him.  
“What’s up?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Gross, Jaemin, don’t even try to put it in my bag.”   
“You guys should see this,” Jeno said. His voice was weak and shaky. The boys exchanged surprised looks. What was this about?

They looked at the screen of the night vision camera.   
“It’s from when we were going down the stairs. I stopped for a second to film you guys going there and…”  
Renjun and Jaemin watched in silence. A few seconds of nothing besides them. And then… A black shape going right over Jaemin’s head.  
“Light tricks.”  
“Slow this down. And turn up the brightness, if you can,” Renjun said, trying to stay calm. “Jaemin, didn’t you say something about… Wind touching your hair?”   
“It was just wind,” Jaemin said quickly, too quickly. His face was a bit paler than usual when he leaned over to see the little screen better.

The little plastic bat flew from the first floor right over Jaemin’s head and onto the floor.

“I’m gonna faint,” Renjun whispered.  
“Don’t. But let’s get the fuck out of here.” Jaemin looked around.  
“This was thrown by somebody. And we were right there. We wanted to sleep right there,” Renjun was having problems with breathing.   
“Okay, baby. Let’s go. We’ll ask the security guards to get our cameras in the morning, okay? Now we’re visiting Mark and sleeping in his hotel room.” Jaemin was holding his hand again, tighter than the last time. Renjun nodded and they started walking towards the exit.

“Am I seeing things?” Jaemin stopped suddenly. There was a figure standing in the door, blocking the way out. Jeno lifted his flashlight up.   
The child mannequin.   
It was right there. Standing still. Smiling. Inanimate. Ten meters from its original spot.

Jaemin’s hand felt empty. He looked down, convinced that Renjun had fainted. But he wasn’t on the floor. Instead, Renjun was walking towards the mannequin with clenched fists.   
“Junnie, what are you do-“  
“I will not…” Side kick. And then five more. “Be taking any more shit from these fucking mannequins.”

Jaemin and Jeno both watched in awe and fear. The mannequin didn’t stand a chance. Renjun kicked it down and smashed its face with his heel.   
“What are you waiting for?” he said, looking at them. His cheeks were a little red and the anger in his eyes made Jaemin shudder a little.   
“Right. Let’s get out of here,” he said. The other two nodded and joined him quickly, trying to avoid stepping on little plastic pieces of mannequin’s head. Renjun pushed the door and they got out on the fresh, night air.

“I’m going to let the security know we’re going. Call a taxi,” the Chinese boy said, that weird firmness still present in his voice. Soon, the two were left alone.

Jaemin looked at Jeno.   
“I’ve literally never seen him like this in my entire life,” he said slowly. Jeno turned off the cameras and started doing something with his phone.   
“I have. When we were fifteen. We were walking home together and a guy from my class called me… some things.”  
“Holy shit,” Jaemin murmured. “I’m sorry.”  
“Renjun almost murdered him on spot. And I mean it. No one said anything bad again. The guy came to school with a broken nose, wrist, and an ‘I’m sorry’ card.”  
Jaemin couldn’t help but smile.   
“He deserved it,” he decided and looked at the mall. “And also…”   
“Don’t say that.” Jeno raised his eyebrows. “Don’t say what I think you want to say.”  
“That’s kinda… sexy.”   
“I told you to not say that!”

“We can go now.” Renjun was back. And back to his normal self. “Please, tell me you called a taxi.”  
“We used an app, like modern men,” Jeno said.   
“Great. I can’t wait to go to sleep in a calm, not-haunted place.” Renjun found himself leaning into Jaemin. He was definitely too tired.   
“Then you’re lucky. Here comes our taxi.” Jeno pointed towards the car. The Chinese boy sighed. Mark won’t be happy to see them at three AM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe he snapped
> 
> im @ aesthetic_sol on twitter if you want to talk! hope you liked it


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!

“Wake up, Renjun,” he heard someone say into his ear.   
“Noooo.” He tried to hide his face in… Whatever was next to it. He was definitely not in the cab. Wait, was someone carrying him?  
“Come on, we’re almost in Mark’s room. You should wake up for a second and change into fresh pajamas.”  
He lifted his head up. It was Jaemin. He was being carried by Jaemin, who looked pretty amused by that situation.   
“Hello,” he said with a smile. “Are you awake?”  
“No,” Renjun mumbled and closed his eyes again. He wanted to sleep, he was _tired_.

“Hi, guys,” he heard Mark say. He did sound surprised a bit, but not too much. “What are you…”  
“Sleepy,” Renjun said, a little annoyed. He heard… No, he _felt_ Jaemin laugh quietly.  
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” the boy holding him said. “Now we need to take care of Sleeping Beauty here.”   
Renjun wasn’t going to argue. Maybe the nickname was… Too cute for him, but he was too busy falling asleep again.

The sudden change of positions and lack of Jaemin’s arms made him very alarmed. He opened his eyes quickly.   
“Hey, what…”   
“Go change,” Jaemin said, handing him clothes. He didn’t really have a choice, so he left to change into them.

The bathroom was so _cold_ and Renjun really tried to be as fast as possible. After changing he sprinted out of the small space and basically jumped on Jaemin, who was very surprised about that.   
“Yes, hello,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”   
“Cold,” Renjun whispered, wrapping them both in a blanket. “Can we sleep now?”   
He heard Jeno say something like ‘cute’, but he decided to ignore it this time. Too tired.   
“Sure we can. There are two beds so…”   
“I can sleep with Mark.” Jeno shrugged. “Just don’t tell Hyuck I said that.”  
“We’ll try.” Jaemin giggled. “But no promises.”  
“Jaemin, shut up. We’re sleeping now.” Renjun furrowed his eyebrows. The taller boy just giggled.   
“Okay. Good night, then.”  
“Night.”

Renjun woke up in Jaemin’s arms. Again. It was getting dangerous, what would he do if he got addicted or something?  
He tried to move slowly. He managed to get on his side and looked at sleeping Jaemin. He looked… so calm. And rested. Maybe even cute.   
“Jaemin?” he whispered. “Nanaaa. Jaemin. Jaeminnie.”  
“Hi.” Jaemin opened his eyes.   
“Oh, you’re not sleeping. Good. Your giant noodle arm is squishing me.”  
Jaemin giggled and pulled him closer.   
“And what about it?” he hummed. Renjun huffed but decided to give up. It was okay. At least he was warm. And comfortable.

“Wait, where are Mark and Jeno?”   
And there goes comfortable.  
“Check in their bed,” Renjun murmured.   
“Not there. “  
He sighed and sat up. Great. He just wanted to stay in bed and let Jaemin play with his hair… What. No. He shook his head, trying to get rid of that thought.

“Hello, sleepyheads!” Mark entered the room with a smile. And a camera. He took a few pictures. Renjun scrunched his nose.   
“Bitch,” he murmured. “Where’s Jeno?”  
“Interviewing the hotel staff. Get dressed, we’re getting out of here. Time to get breakfast.”  
“You have officially been unbitched. Up, Jaemin! I’m hungry!” Renjun jumped out of the bed and grabbed some of Jaemin’s clothes.   
“Hey, that’s…”   
“Your problem. I’ll be right back.”

“I’m so glad we’re back,” Renjun said and took a sip of his coffee.   
“Me, too,” Jaemin mumbled with his mouth full. They were at the same café as yesterday. The croissants were still the most delicious thing Renjun had ever tried.   
“We have to buy more of those and bring them home to Hyuck and the kids,” Mark said with a smile. Renjun giggled.   
“You sound like a loving husband,” he said, causing the eldest to blush.   
“I… Shut up, Huang.”   
“Wow, that’s so cute,” Jaemin said, taking Renjun’s coffee. “Are Chenle and Jisung your sons or something?”  
“Both of you, shut up.”  
“First of all, no,” Renjun said. “And that’s mine, Nana.”  
“I know. I want to taste it.”   
“Bitch,” Renjun whispered and started tickling him. Jeno took the coffee away from them, but they didn’t care anymore. It was a war now.   
“We’re gonna get thrown out of here,” Mark sighed. “Jeno, record this.”  
“I already am.”

“Okay,” Jaemin said to the camera. “We’re back in the car, going home. And it’s time for a quick conclusion. Renjun?”  
The Chinese boy sighed.   
“I hate mannequins,” he announced. “And, while we still haven’t seen the footage from the mall, I can say this: I am 100% sure that the place is haunted. And hates visitors.”   
“Okay, my turn. While some things were weird, it was all just because of the wind.”  
“The child mannequin just moved to the door because of the _wind?_ ” Renjun snorted.   
“Obviously. It probably had some wheels so it could be moved around faster. And they worked.”  
The smallest boy looked into the camera.   
“Do you hear that? Hear what I have to work with?” he said, exasperated. Jaemin laughed.   
“So I think we can call that case… Unsolved.”   
“Oh, that sounds cool,” Mark said from his seat. Renjun sighed.   
“It’s not true. But whatever. I’ll get possessed on camera one day and Jaemin will just say ‘damn, the wind’ while I float in the air.”   
“Sure will,” Jaemin giggled and quickly got smacked on the shoulder.

Finally, they were going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jfdhjqwhifhc this one was soft i hope you enjoyed!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy uwuwuwuwu

Jaemin opened the door in an extremely dramatic gesture. He opened his mouth to announce their arrival, but Mark was first.   
“We’re back!” he shouted, looking around. Donghyuck ran out of the kitchen and smiled.   
“They’re back!” he screamed, turning his head in the living room’s direction.   
“I literally just said that.” Mark raised his eyebrows and put down the luggage he was carrying. His friend giggled and jumped into his arms.  
“Yes, but I said it louder,” he hummed, wrapping his arms around Mark’s neck. “How was the trip?”   
“Oh, magnificent. Renjun made us sleep in a haunted mall.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.   
“You did? And you took Mark with you?” Haechan sighed, disappointed. “What does he have that I don’t?”   
“Hey!”   
“A driver’s license,” Renjun said, trying to hang his jacket. He finally gave up and let Jaemin do it. Donghyuck giggled.  
“Oh. That’s… fair.”  
“But he didn’t get inside anyway. We have tons of footage, don’t worry,” Jeno pointed to the cameras. “You’ll be so happy you weren’t there.”

Chenle and Jisung basically sprinted out of the living room.   
“Hi!” the former squealed, sounding very much like a dolphin. His best friend was jumping in his place.   
“How was the haunted place?” he asked. Chenle nodded.   
“Did you see any ghosts?”   
“Can we see the videos?”   
“You brought us presents?”   
Renjun put his hands over the boys’ mouths.   
“I’m so glad I have two hands,” he murmured. Jaemin giggled and showed them a box from the bakery.   
“Presents,” he whispered. Mark nodded and helped Hyuck adjust his position in his arms.   
“We have some croissants,” he explained. “Two for everyone.”   
It was apparently great news for Donghyuck, who squealed and jumped on the floor.   
“Let’s go to the kitchen then, I’ll make coffee.” He grabbed Mark’s hand with a huge smile. Renjun not to laugh. God, that was so _cute._ Why were his friends so sweet and oblivious at the same time?   
“Great idea, but can I take a shower first?” he asked. Hyuck scrunched his nose.   
“Yeah, absolutely. You guys, too. You’re _stinky.”_

The croissants were a big hit. Mark and Donghyuck were acting as if they hadn’t seen each other for two years, clinging to each other like cuddly panda bears. Renjun smiled into his teacup and looked at Jaemin. _Have you seen them,_ his stare said. The Korean boy smiled, too, and nodded slightly. Renjun sighed and got back to drinking his tea. He wasn’t in a coffee mood.

He closed his eyes, content. The tea was delicious, and the feeling of being at home only made it better. When he opened his eyes again, Jaemin was looking at him. No, he wasn’t looking, he was _staring,_ with that sweet, soft smile. Renjun felt his cheeks heat up. He quickly grabbed another croissant.   
“These are too good,” he said. Oh, that was Mandarin. Shit. What was happening? Jaemin was his housemate. His _best friend._ Was it… The next level of friendship? The bestest friendship? Maybe that would explain the weird, fluttery feeling in his chest.

“Renjun, are you alright?” Donghyuck raised his eyebrows.   
“Chinese,” he said, trying to correct his mistake.   
“Yeah, we know that. Maybe you should get some sleep, Junnie.” Hae checked his temperature. “You’re probably exhausted.”   
“No, I’m fine, I’m good,” Renjun said quickly.   
“I can’t hear you. Jaemin, take him to his room.”   
The boy laughed and just lifted Renjun up.   
“Yes, sir.”   
“Hey!” Renjun did not like this, not at all.

“How can you just carry me like this!” he squealed, grabbing the other’s hoodie. He was being taken to his bedroom. Unfair.   
“It’s easy, you’re tiny,” Jaemin said, obviously trying not to laugh. That just made Renjun more flustered.   
“I’m not… I’m… You’re tiny, Na Jaemin!” he hissed into his ear, trying really hard not to hit him.  
“I’m just stating facts. You’re literally the shortest.”  
“You’re th… Shut up!” he smacked his shoulder lightly. Jaemin laughed and threw him on the bed.

“Here you are, princess.”   
“I’m not a…” He grabbed a pillow and threw it at his friend.   
“Oh, you didn’t. This is officially a pillow fight,” Jaemin whispered.

And it was a pillow fight, a very intense one. Renjun owned a _lot_ of pillows, so it wasn’t hard to find weapons in his room. For a few minutes, everything was forgotten – the ghosts, the boys in the kitchen, the fact that it was 8 PM – that didn’t count. They were absolutely absorbed in the fight.

“I win,” Renjun announced finally, sitting on his friend’s chest with a triumphant smile. Jaemin laughed, trying to catch his breath.   
“Oh, do you?” he finally asked.   
“What do you mean by…” Renjun was interrupted when his friend suddenly pulled him down, so close that their noses were almost touching. Renjun’s mind went into panic mode. He took in a sharp breath. _What the fuck?!_

That moment of confusion was enough for Jaemin to flip the Chinese boy over and change their positions.   
“I win.”   
Renjun opened his mouth, wanting to argue about this, but he couldn’t really say anything.   
“Okay,” he finally whispered. “Now it’s naptime.”   
“Want me to stay with you?” Jaemin’s voice softened immediately. Why was he so sweet? Renjun couldn’t deal with this.   
“If you want to,” he wrapped them in a blanket. “Goodnight, Nana.”   
“Night, Junnie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my laptop's back so!!   
> my tt is @ dejuns_eyebrows kjsdsakjdsh let me know if you liked it!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!! uwuwuwu

Waking up in Jaemin’s arms was slowly becoming Renjun’s everyday thing. And he wasn’t complaining, oh no. But he wasn’t a big fan of being woken up, and that was exactly what happened. Someone was shaking his arm. And that someone was Jeno.

He looked around. Jaemin was already awake, looking at him with that soft gaze of his.   
“Why are we up this early?” Renjun asked, trying his best to still be grumpy. Jaemin smiled.   
“To watch the video Jeno has created from our material.”   
“How lucky we are to have our cameraboy.” The Chinese boy slowly sat up and looked at Jeno.  
“Shut up,” the latter said. “And hurry up. Everyone’s already in the living room.”   
“They are?” Renjun stretched and yawned.   
“Haechan is going to break the walls if we don’t start soon.”  
Well, that was a very real threat.   
“Oh, we can’t allow that. Let’s go.” He wanted to get off the bed, but the cold floor made him change his mind. “Jaemin..?”

“Good morning, maniacs,” Renjun said, looking at the small crowd gathered in the living room. He was truly feeling like a prince of some sort, being carried by Jaemin and all. Donghyuck screeched.  
“FINALLY!” He jumped off the sofa and onto Mark’s lap. “We’ve been waiting _forever.”  
_Jaemin laughed and sat down, putting Renjun on _his_ lap. Donghyuck smiled at the Chinese boy, who blushed slightly. Yes, Jaemin was a hugger, but this? What exactly was this?

“Breakfast for your local ghost hunters?” he finally asked, trying to make himself comfortable. Donghyuck pointed to the coffee table.  
“We have pancakes, Mark made them,” he said with a proud smile.  
“Oh, is the kitchen all right?”   
“Ha, ha, ha.” Mark rolled his eyes. “I can cook.”  
“Of course you can, of course.” Jaemin patted his back. “So, Hyuck, my kitchen?”  
Renjun giggled.   
“Just eat the pancakes, you ungrateful children,” the oldest said, rolling his eyes. “And play the video, Jeno. I can’t wait to see what I didn’t have to see inside.”   
Jeno laughed and pressed PLAY.

It was a little less scary than in real life, Renjun noticed. Probably because he’d already experienced all of it.

_NOW, THE FOOTAGE FROM THE CAMERAS LEFT FOR THE WHOLE DAY INSIDE._

Renjun took in a sharp breath. Oh, shit. He wasn’t ready for that, so he just sank further into Jaemin’s arms.   
“Oh, yes,” his friend said. “Show us absolutely nothing for ten hours.”   
“You and I both know _something_ happened there,” Renjun hissed and focused on the screen.

For a long time, nothing. And then steps. And after that…   
“Pause it!” Renjun ordered. He looked at the frozen screen. “Do you guys see that?”   
“What, that shade?” Jaemin rolled his eyes.   
“It’s fucking feet,” the Chinese boy hissed. “Can’t you see them? They’re moving.”   
“You’re seeing things at this point.”   
Jeno played the video and the feet moved again, closer and closer.   
And the picture turned.

“Here’s where the camera fell down!” Renjun jumped. Oh, God.   
“The wind knocked it down, you know. It happens sometimes.”   
“It was taped to the floor!” he said, looking at Jaemin with raised eyebrows. Donghyuck gasped.   
“It was _what?”_  
“The mannequins did it, I tell you.” Renjun bit into his pancake and looked at his friend, who nodded.   
“Mannequins are spooky as fuck. Definitely haunted.”

They watched it for a bit, Jisung and Chenle screaming in the right moments. Donghyuck was just playing with Mark’s hair and shuddering. Renjun was quiet.

“What’s that?” he stopped the video again. Jeno must have also noticed it, the shadowy figure was circled red.   
“It appeared a second before the bat was thrown,” he explained. Renjun sighed.   
“Fucking hell.” He shifted on Jaemin’s lap.   
“It’s just a shadow, no worries,” the boy underneath him whispered.   
“Easy for you to say.”   
He sighed and hugged Renjun, holding him closer to his chest.

The video came to an end with dramatic footage of Renjun destroying the mannequin. Those who hadn’t seen it before gasped. Chenle looked at the older boy.   
“You sure did kill him,” he said slowly.   
“That was my intention.”

Jaemin sighed.   
“Let’s go and record an outro,” he finally said. Renjun nodded and stood up slowly.   
“Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu on twitter @dejuns_eyebrows and on curiouscat @xiaodejun_ uwu


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!!

“Renjun! Package!” Jaemin called out into the void of their apartment, holding a small box. For a few seconds, everything was quiet. And then, a blanket burrito dashed out of Renjun’s room, slid through the freshly-waxed floor and stopped by bumping into Jaemin’s chest.   
“Wonderful!” the burrito man exclaimed. “Where’s the package?”  
Jaemin raised his eyebrows and hid the box behind his back.   
“I have it. Now explain what’s inside. I thought we had a strict no-ordering-shit-until-spring policy.”  
The burrito man uncovered his face in a dramatic gesture, revealing his identity. Jaemin didn’t seem very impressed, though.   
“That one doesn’t count. That’s just… Something for our channel.” Renjun said, trying to get the package from him. He _may_ have had some… small internet shopping habits. What’s wrong with that?   
“You used the same excuse when you tried to order a sweater.”   
“Well, I’d wear it in a video. On our channel.” He tried to smile cutely and, for a second, Jaemin’s gaze softened. And the smaller boy for a second thought he won that battle.   
Alas.   
“Renjun,” Jaemin said, raising his eyebrows again. “We talked about that. You order something every three days. That’s why we have that policy in the first place.”   
“Chill, it’s actually something useful for the channel. And you’ll see soon because I have another location ready.” Renjun showed him his black binder, full of “haunted data”.  
“I’m intrigued and afraid of your powerful mind. Also, half of our viewers want you to beat them up.”   
Renjun blushed.

Being in the car again was… bringing back the traumatic experiences to say at least. Jaemin sighed, trying to look at Renjun’s notes.   
“So! Where are we going!” he finally moaned.   
“It’s a surprise,” the smaller boy said, taking a chip out of a bag. He made sure his notes were covered the entire time. Jaemin scowled.   
“But you told Jeno, it’s not fair!”   
“He didn’t,” Jeno said from the front seat.   
“I didn’t,” Renjun sighed at the same time and bit into another chip. “It’s a surprise for everyone. Besides Mark, because he’s got a driving license.”   
“I hate having a driving license,” Mark murmured. Renjun couldn’t help but giggle.   
“No worries, Hyuck’s getting one soon.”   
“If he can pass the driving test.”   
The younger boys all let out various ‘ooh’s and ‘oof’s.  
“Should I tell him you said that?” Jaemin laughed.  
“I’d rather die,” Mark said. “Now pass me these chips.”

Half an hour later Jeno started to get impatient.   
“Renjun. How am I supposed to record if you won’t tell us where we’re going?” he asked, putting on his glasses. Renjun shrugged.   
“Just start recording. They love it when you’re confused,” he said with a smile. Jaemin rolled his eyes, trying to steal the black binder.   
“Why did we let you become the person responsible for schedules?” he asked after getting smacked on the hand.   
“Because I’m cute and you both can’t say no to me?” Renjun smiled and waved his sweater paws. Jaemin bit his lip. _Well, fuck, he was right._ Whatever Renjun wanted, Renjun got. He had them both wrapped around his small fingers. How weird.   
“I’m glad we sorted that out,” Renjun hummed and fixed his hair. “Now, Jeno, why don’t you start recording?”

“One, two, three, and you guys are on,” Jeno said. Jaemin looked into the camera with a pained expression.   
“Hello everyone! We have no idea where we’re going,” he announced and pointed to Renjun. “This little bitch won’t tell us.”  
“Hi everyone! Little bitch speaking,” Renjun said and jumped in his seat. “We’ll have to bleep that out.”   
“We’re gonna get demonetized because of you two,” Jeno pointed out. Jaemin rubbed his temples.   
“Don’t say the d-word. Renjun, can you tell us now where are we headed?”   
“No, Jaemin, I cannot. I can only guarantee you it’s going to be fun,” the Chinese boy said, doing his best to sound like a news anchor. “And to our viewers: you already know where we’re going because of the title. So have fun watching Jaemin and Jeno getting more and more uncomfortable as we’re trapped in that car for the next three hours.”  
“Three hours!” Jeno screamed in shock.   
“You’re a devil,” Jaemin announced. Renjun smiled at him. He liked that feeling. Having power over Jaemin. At least once, he controlled the situation. Recently, he felt out of control, especially near his best friend, his cute smile and warm hugs. But now? He was on top of the world.   
“I sure am hot as hell.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess the next location idjkakdjhjaksnk  
> twitter is @dejuns_eyebrows and curiouscat is @xiaodejun_


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentines day!! enjoy uwu

Jaemin woke up when the car stopped. He cursed under his breath, realizing Renjun had probably taken tons of pictures for blackmail purposes. He looked around, trying to figure out where they were. There was a building behind the window, a massive one. It was made of red brick and covered in ivy. Definitely not built in a traditional, Korean way. Probably inspired by old, western universities.   
“Here we are,” Renjun sang, jumping out of the car.   
“We’re going to _school?”_ Jaemin sighed, crawling out. He was still a bit groggy, and he definitely needed coffee. He opened the trunk and reached for a can of ‘coffee beverage’ he’d got at a supermarket. _Will do._ “What are you, a demon? I’m _done_ with school. I’m an adult now.”   
“No, you’re not.” Renjun patted his cheek and smiled. “You’re a baby.”  
Jaemin froze. Since when was he so confident? Wasn’t he the number one panicked child, ready to kick ass if someone made him flustered? Was it the same Renjun?

When he stopped analyzing this, he realized Renjun was talking. And he must had been talking for quite a long time.  
“Okay, so that’s on the location, now, let’s get into some sexy, sexy facts.” The Chinese boy whipped out his binder and smiled brightly. Jeno laughed.  
“We have to make a dramatic shot,” he said and looked at the building. “Maybe… It’s a school, right? Why don’t you tell us about it… Behind a school desk.”   
Renjun jumped in his place.   
“Jeno,” he hummed and planted a quick kiss on the boy’s cheek. “I hope you know how sexy your mind is.”   
“I see what’s your new favorite word,” Mark raised his eyebrows. “I’m not going inside, so take your bags. You’re staying for the night?”   
“Part of it. Text me your hotel details, we’ll join you.” Renjun hugged him and smiled. Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. What happened? Renjun was never the touchy type. And now he was all over everyone. Jaemin wasn’t jealous, no. Just a bit… worried. Yes. Concerned about Renjun’s health.   
“Let’s get inside, huh?” he said. “It’s getting cold.”   
Another health concern.

They entered the first classroom they found. Renjun automatically picked the exact same place their old desk was at.   
“This brings back some memories,” he said, sitting down and placing his binder on the desk. “Are you boys ready for an amazing treat?”   
“You’re a crazy, wicked man,” Jaemin said, looking at him with disbelief. It was like nothing had changed, and yet… “Stop torturing us and just spill the tea.”   
“If you insist,” Renjun giggled. 

“So, the school was a boys’ boarding school since 1956… While it had a great reputation, many things were hidden from the public’s eye. Teenage boys being closed in a small building complex… It didn’t end well,” Renjun started.   
“Oh, what. They’d kill each other?” Jaemin raised his eyebrows.   
“Yeah, pretty much.”   
“Shit. Sorry,” he said quietly. _Oops._ Jeno looked at him in disbelief.   
“Anyway. The rivalry and competition encouraged by the teachers led to aggression. Fights happened every day. And sometimes they’d become something worse. Murders happened. A student also committed suicide.”  
“Wow, that’s a fucked up thing. Imagine being sent to that school and being all cheerful about it,” Jaemin pointed out. Renjun snorted and fixed his hair.   
“Like ‘don’t worry, mom, it’s not like someone would kill me’. Sike.”  
Jeno hid his face in his hands.   
“You are both awful people,” he announced. Renjun smiled at him.

“Of course, it didn’t last forever. Someone talked to the press and the school got closed down in 1989.”  
“That’s awfully long,” Jaemin said, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Educational system sucks.”   
“It’s got better, but you’re right. Money and elitism led to many deaths here. And in many places.” Renjun looked behind the window and fell silent for a few seconds.

“So they closed down the school,” Jaemin encouraged him to speak.   
“Yeah. But some schools nearby would sometimes use empty classrooms when they were overcrowded or holding extracurriculars. And that was when people learned about the ghosts of that place.”  
“Oh, yeah,” the Korean boy rolled his eyes. “The ghosts.”   
“And today, we’ll hopefully get to meet them.” Renjun reached to his backpack. “And we have a special little thing to help us.”  
“We’re finally finding out what Renjun ordered, breaking the rules of not ordering shit online.” Jaemin clapped, pretending to care just a little. But he was very intrigued.   
“Yes, you are. Meet our new friend, the spirit box.”  
“Oh, not _that.”_ Jaemin rolled his eyes. Renjun looked surprised.   
“You know what that is? Is someone getting into ghost hunting?”   
“Nope. Just saw it somewhere while doing research on fake ghosts.”  
“You’re gonna love it,” Renjun said and patted his cheek. _Again._ Maybe he inhaled some toxic gas or something? Jaemin had to investigate that later.

“So, are you ready to dive in and prove ghosts are real?”   
“They aren’t,” Jaemin sighed. “But let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im @dejuns_eyebrows on twitter and @xiaodejun_ on curiouscat!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> djhkasjdkhd im so sorry for not posting for so long but i have a book to read and it's a 1000 page long boring nightmare :((  
> i hope you like it!

They walked down the empty hall. Renjun admired its tall walls and listened to the echoes of their own steps in silence. It was almost poetic, but at the same time was giving him goosebumps. Empty schools were… unnatural.  
“How do we talk to them?” He finally asked. “They’re students, so…”  
Jaemin didn’t have a problem. Or any barriers.   
“Well, you could just… HEY, GHOSTS! GUESS WHO!”   
“Shut _up,_ ” Renjun hissed, looking at him. “You’re out of your mind.”   
“Says the guy who believes in ghosts,” Jaemin hummed with a smile. Renjun hit his arm.  
“Asshole,” he murmured. “Come with me, we’re gonna start with one of the most active rooms…”   
“I’ll pay you to leave the spirit noise maker here.”   
“Spirit _box_ , Jaemin. And no. It’s very useful. You’ll see soon.”

Renjun opened the door that said _CHANGING ROOM 2._ It was, indeed, a changing room. And it still smelled like it, for some reason. The Chinese boy scrunched up his nose. This brought back some middle school memories.   
“Oh, this is… I hate this,” Jaemin said, looking around. It was very old, but still had that specific energy, claustrophobic spaces and some rags laying under one of the benches.   
“Mr Sports hates something related to sports?” Renjun raised his eyebrows and look into the camera. “Jaemin used to be in a swimming team. Fun fact.”   
“No one besides straight people likes gym classes,” Jaemin pointed out, kicking the rags with a disgusted face.   
“You actually have a point,” Jeno said. “But don’t kick those, there may be a rat in there.”   
“So? That would only bring us a new friend.”   
“It could be our pet. A mascot. Like Scooby Doo.” Renjun rolled his eyes. Jaemin scoffed.   
“Excuse me,” he said. “Scooby Doo is _not_ a mascot. He’s a valid member of the gang.”

“So, Scooby gang, what are we dealing with?” Jeno interrupted them before they could get into a fight. Renjun sighed.  
“This place is reported to be haunted by a young boy named Jiwoo.” He took out the spirit box. “We’re gonna try and reach out to him now.”   
“No, don’t,” Jaemin said, trying to take the gadget away from him. “Let’s try something easier first. Something organic.”   
“Like what?”   
Jaemin turned off the lights and placed a flashlight on one of the benches.   
“Hi, ghost! Can you turn this flashlight on for us?” he asked with a smile. He felt Renjun move closer to him. Was he scared? _Cute._

Sadly, the flashlight didn’t react in any way.   
“Here’s your ultimate proof there are no ghosts.”   
“So we’re gonna ignore the previous two locations?” Renjun rolled his eyes and turned on his own flashlight. “Time for… the spirit box, baby!”   
“You’re calling me baby?” Jaemin winked, causing his best friend to shriek and blush.   
“Stop trying to distract me from using the spirit box!” the smaller boy managed to say.   
“Am I a distraction?”  
“Hey, remember me? Lee Jeno? I’m still here, in this very room.”   
Renjun blushed even more. _Great. Very subtle._

He pressed a few buttons on the device and turned it on. Jaemin hissed when it started making all kinds of white noise.   
“Hi,” Renjun said, trying not to show his excitement. “Are there any ghosts here? Our names are Jaemin and Renjun. Can you say it back?”   
“Oh, yeah, like it will work,” Jaemin snorted. The spirit box made a sound that sounded weirdly like…   
“Can you repeat this?” Renjun furrowed his eyebrows.   
“ **Jaemin**.”   
“It said your name,” Jeno said.   
“I don’t think so,” the other Korean boy said, rolling his eyes.   
“ **Nonbeliever.** ”  
Renjun choked. That sounded _very_ clear to him. He looked at Jeno to make sure he wasn’t just going crazy. Jeno’s face was getting pretty pale.   
“Okay, I heard _that._ That was a long word, so I think the box was made this way. It’s a shitty toy.” Jaemin looked around. Suddenly he felt very glad Renjun was standing so close to him.   
“Jiwoo, is that you?” the Chinese boy asked.  
“ **Maybe** ,” that was a little harder to decipher.   
“Oh, sure. Let us know when you’ll be sure,” Jaemin said, trying to smile. Renjun closed his eyes.   
“Can we… for _once…_ not anger any ghost?”   
“Well, we could if they were more decisive!”   
“ **Basement.** ”

Everything fell silent, the only sound interrupting was the noise of the spirit box. Renjun bit his lip hard.   
“Well, that sounds pretty decisive to me,” he finally said.   
“Shut _up,_ ” Jaemin sighed. “This is stupid. But we’re going to the basement. Of course.”   
“Of course. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think!  
> tt: dejuns_eyebrows  
> cc: xiaodejun_  
> also listen to wasteland baby its so good


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm finally done with every reading assignment!!   
> enjoy

The basement door was quite big for a… basement standard. But that wasn’t what made Jaemin stop and raise his eyebrows. It was a big monster head sculpted above the door.   
“Okay,” Jaemin said, pointing at the head. “And you still think this is a brilliant idea?”   
“I sure do.” Renjun shrugged. “It’s just a door anyway. What are you, scared?”   
His friend decided to ignore the shudder in his voice.   
“Nope. And I see you’re alright, so why don’t we just jump inside and meet the undead?”   
“We’re not dealing with _zombies,_ Jaemin. Get your vocabulary right.”   
“Oh, believe me, I know the vocabulary just right,” he said with a smile. Renjun looked at him, surprised.   
“Huh?”   
“You and Hyuck never stop talking about that stuff.”   
“He’s right,” Jeno said. “So are we going in or what?”

As soon as Jeno closed the door behind them, they realised their mistake. It was dark, and the basement obviously didn’t have any windows.   
“Open the door, Jeno,” Renjun said, waving his hands around.   
“I can’t find the doorknob. Wait! Got it.”   
“That’s great news, can you hurry up, please?” He clung to Jaemin’s arm instinctively. The taller boy didn’t seem to mind, he even pulled him a bit closer.   
“Okay, bad news: I can’t open it.”

Renjun closed his eyes and counted to ten. They had to see their way around. Didn’t they have flashlights?   
“Pass me the… Shit. The flashlight. Flashlight, Jaemin. God, that’s my _head,_ you absolute idiot,” he shuddered, feeling a hand touching his hair.   
“How did we not think about taking them out before?”   
“We’re stupid. Jeno, don’t you have like… A camera flash?”

A stream of bright light hit their faces.   
“You’re both so stupid,” Jeno said, shaking his head in disbelief. Renjun was clinging to Jaemin while the taller boy was digging through his backpack.   
“Okay, I found the flashlights. Renjun, can you… Let go for a sec? I have to take them out. And I might need two hands for that.”  
“No,” Renjun murmured.   
“Okay, I have to ask. Are you scared?”   
“You’re scared. Let’s go.” He took out one of the flashlights, turned it on and grabbed Jaemin’s hand. “We can’t leave the ghosts waiting, right?”

They went down the basement stairs, trying very hard not to fall down and/or break their legs. It was harder for Jaemin and Renjun since they were holding hands. Jeno was just chilling.

The actual basement was a lot deeper down than Renjun thought. It smelled… Like a basement. It reminded him of all those times he’d had to get something from his grandma’s basement. Grandma would always say that his grandfather’s ghost would watch over him in those scary times, but the last thing baby Renjun had wanted was a ghost watching him in the basement. It was… Quite a memory.

“It’s so cold in here.” Jeno breathed out and watched as a small cloud of mist left his mouth.   
“Did you know… Temperatures drop indicate the presence of a ghost,” Renjun hummed. Jaemin looked miserable.   
“Thanks, Wikipedia. Did you know… Basements are usually cold,” he said.   
“Oh, sure. But the ghost wanted us to go here specifically.”   
“Right. The very real ghost who wasn’t just random radio words,” Jaemin raised his eyebrows.   
“It… They… said your name.”  
“I’m not the only Jaemin in the world. Where are we going?”   
Renjun led him deeper into the darkness, ignoring the question.

He tried to see as much as he could, but they only had two flashlights and a camera light. From what he could see, the basement was huge and had a few different rooms. He could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance. The room they were in was pretty empty, except for a weird shape in the corner…

“FUCKING HELL,” Jaemin screamed at the same time. The light from his flashlight exposed a weird, Gargoyle-like sculpture. A _tall_ one.   
“This place is… cursed,” Jeno announced. Renjun squished Jaemin’s fingers and turned on the spirit box.   
“Jiwoo? Are you there?”   
“ **Finally.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hoped you liked it, let me know here, on twitter (@dejuns_eyebrows) or curiouscat (@xiaodejun_) uwu


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing the scary parts is... scary  
> enjoy

“This is cursed,” Jeno repeated. Jaemin looked… Pretty pale, which surprised Renjun.   
“Are you scared, Nana?” he whispered, intertwining their fingers. A mumbled “no, you are” was enough of an answer. The Chinese boy sighed and looked at the gargoyle again. It was human-sized. And it didn’t have sculpted eyes, it had empty holes instead.

“Renjun,” Jaemin said, slowly regaining composure. “Please, go full-on Karate Kid on _that._ ”   
“Nope. Jeno’s right that thing’s cursed,” Renjun said, shaking his head. “It’s staring at me. With those empty holes. Jiwoo? Can you speak to us?”

For a few seconds, there was just blessed silence. Jaemin snorted.   
“Sure he will. Made-up ghost.”   
“ **Shut up.** ”   
“Fucking hell, dude,” Jeno said, raising his eyebrows. “That’s not a nice way to speak to ghost-hunters.”

Renjun could swear he saw the statue move a bit. He gulped, trying not to panic.   
“Hi, Jiwoo. We’re here to help you. We came where you asked.”   
“ **I know.** ”   
“Isn’t he _so_ helpful?” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Thanks, ghost. We know you know.”   
“Jaemin,” Renjun hissed. “We’ve been through that before. Don’t provoke…”

Something made a loud _bang_ in the next room, making Renjun cling to his best friend’s arm. Jaemin seemed a little pale, but otherwise unfazed.   
“ **Believe now?** ” the voice asked, suddenly very low and kind of distorted. It made the Korean boy smile.   
“This is pathetic,” he said, shaking his head. “What do you have for us? A possessed statue?”   
Silence. Renjun finally turned off the spirit box and looked at Jaemin with wide eyes.   
“You have no fear of God or death.”   
“You’re absolutely right.” But it seemed to be a lie. Jaemin was pale and held Renjun close, almost protectively. “Why don’t we investigate the sound? I’m not a fan of the gargoyle dude staring at me. I didn’t do my hair.”

Renjun sighed and followed his friend. Jeno made a closeup on the statue and went to the next room with them.

It was… bigger. And the water sounds were getting louder, making Renjun kind of nervous. He felt like he was going to be flooded by a waterfall any second now.   
And then, of course, Jaemin made it worse.   
“Look, guys. Water,” he announced, shining a light on a big puddle forming on the floor.   
“Great,” Renjun hissed, stepping back. “I’m not sacrificing my shoes for that.”   
“Oh, yes, you are. I feel like it gets ghostier there.”  
“Ghostier? This is not a word.” He scrunched up his nose. “Is it? Jeno? Is it a word?”   
“I… Really don’t think that’s what should concern you at this point,” Jeno said, pointing the camera to a big reversed pentagram drawn on the next door.   
“How cliché can it get?” Jaemin snorted. “Renjun, why don’t you do your reporter thing?”   
“Why don’t you shut up, Na Jaemin.”

A minute later Renjun was standing in the water and looking miserably at Jeno.   
“We’re currently in a very haunted school,” he said. “In a basement. Water is everywhere. We might have met the ghost of Jiwoo, but Jaemin was mean to him…”   
“And vice versa, don’t make me look like a bad guy here,” Jaemin interrupted.   
“Yeah. They were both assholes so now we’re going deeper into the basement. Which also is a horror movie set, apparently.” Renjun pointed to the big pentagram and sighed. “I’m gonna need a hair dye to cover those grey hairs I’ll get from that job.”   
“Oh, like you didn’t already have grey hair,” Jaemin snorted. The smaller boy kicked water towards him.   
“Shut _up._ ”

They stood in silence for a few seconds, looking at the pentagram door.   
“I am so not ready for this,” Renjun hissed. Jaemin rolled his eyes and leaned into the door.   
“It’s comfy.”   
“Jaemin!”   
“Loooooook. I’m pissing off the ghosts.” Jaemin spread his arms and stood there, basically in the pentagram. Jeno stepped back.   
“Dude. What the _fuck._ ”  
“We have to get their attention somehow.”   
Renjun grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the door, pale.   
“Are you absolutely out of your mind?” he whispered. “You’re gonna get yourself killed.”   
“I’m unkillable. And also, I’d haunt you forever after this. If ghosts were real.”   
“Why do you always talk shit,” Renjun murmured and straightened up. “Let’s… Get inside. Use the satanic door and disappoint my poor grandma.”   
“I hope she doesn’t watch our videos then,” Jaemin said. “She’d be constantly disappointed.”   
“I hope so, too.”   
“But if she does… Hi, Mrs Renjun’s Grandma. Your grandson is putting himself in great danger. Please don’t stop sending us sweets because of that.”   
“I’ll kick you,” Renjun said. Jaemin laughed and opened the door.   
“ _Monsieur.”_  
“Stupid bitch,” the Chinese boy answered and stepped over the huge puddle with a bad, bad, triple bad feeling.

That room was a lot smaller than the others. The air smelled really weird. In a bad way. Like something that’d died ten weeks ago.   
“God, it smells!” Jeno screeched. Renjun tried not to breathe and reached for his backpack. He took out three masks and handed two of them to his companions.   
“A savior,” Jaemin murmured, putting it on. “We’re gonna put subtitles on that part.”   
“Yeah. But what smells like _that_?” Renjun took his time to look around and check his surroundings.

No creepy sculptures or mannequins. That was a great advantage. Water was almost reaching his ankles and he cursed internally. His poor shoes. His poor _feet._   
He studied the room. Nothing. Empty wall, empty wall, empty… No. He jumped in his place and looked at the picture frame hanging on the wall.   
It looked like a class photo but in a horror movie. Some faces were crossed out. Some were burned. The rest was either faded or normal. There wasn’t a date, a name or anything.

“Woah. That’s something… Ghosty.”   
“Say it one more time, Na Jaemin, and I’ll kick your ass,” Renjun announced, taking pictures. “It’s so weird. Who did this?”   
“Probably someone who didn’t like their classmates.”   
“Guys?” Jeno asked. “Look, there’s a cupboard here.”   
“Oh, _très bien,”_ Jaemin said, turning on his heel.   
“What’s up with you and French today?” Renjun said.   
“I’m in a mood.” Jaemin shrugged and looked over Jeno’s arm. “Did you get a nice shot of this? Because we’d like to open it.”   
“We would?” Renjun asked weakly.   
“Of course.” Jaemin pulled the cupboard door and, with a loud screech, it opened.

Renjun screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as i've mentioned, i'm working with this project during camp nanowrimo so expect more updates!! i hope you liked it!  
> tt: dejuns_eyebrows  
> cc: xiaodejun_


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone guess what!! im sick again so i will have some time to write kjwjshaskljdlajd  
> enjoy!!  
> also im rly sorry @ all the scared people skjdskjd

The cupboard was almost empty. _Almost_ makes a huge difference. Because on the first shelf from the top, there was a little doll, staring at them with empty holes.  
“No eyes again,” Jaemin said, furrowing his eyebrows.  
“That’s what concerns you?” Renjun hissed. Of course, it was unnerving. But not as much as a whole ass haunted doll sitting lonely in this cupboard.  
“I mean… See a pattern here? Someone took their eyes.”  
“Why do you keep saying scary things,” Renjun said slowly, looking around. It was so stressful. He felt like he was being watched.

“Are we gonna try calling your friend-ghost again?”  
“I don’t know, I don’t really… Feel like it.”  
Jaemin snorted, stepping away from the doll. He looked at the next door. Was the door maze neverending? It seemed like it.  
“You know what would be fun? If there was a room full of like… Doll and sculpture eyes.”  
“I’m gonna strangle you,” Renjun warned him, getting paler again. Jaemin shook his head.  
“Let’s get out of here. I don’t feel so good.”  
“Thanks for the insightful comment, Spider-Man.”  
“No!” Jeno said dramatically. “Don’t remind me…”  
Renjun rolled his eyes. _Idiots._ He grabbed Jaemin’s hand and they went back. The pentagram room, the sculpture room…

They reached the big door and he finally took a deep breath. Finally. He’d rather fight a mannequin, thank you very much.  
“Okay, good news, we’re at the door,” Jeno said, his voice suspiciously high-pitched.  
“You’re saying this like there’s some bad news?” Renjun asked, feeling a chill run down his spine.  
“The door is shut. I can’t open it.”  
“No.”  
“Yes,” Jeno said, struggling to open the door. Renjun cursed under his breath and joined him in those struggles. They stopped when they heard a sudden gasp.

“What is it, Jaemin?” the Chinese boy hissed.  
“More bad news. You might want to turn around.”  
“Why would I…”

Out of the corner of his eye, Renjun spotted a figure in the shadows. He turned around.  
“What _is_ that?” he whispered. He felt like it was… Moving towards them?  
Jaemin pointed the flashlight to it with a shaky hand.  
The empty eyes of the sculpture watched them from the bottom of the stairs.

“No,” Renjun said. “No, just… No. I refuse to do this.”  
He kicked the door a few times, trying to get it to move. Why did it always happen to him?  
“We have to fight it,” Jaemin said.  
“I’ll fight you. I’m not touching a moving, possessed sculpture.”  
“Maybe it’s made out of something light. There’s wind.” Jaemin didn’t look like he believed his own words. “Step away from the door.”  
“What for? We’re trapped.” Jeno gulped, trying to film the sculpture. “Shit, I’m out of battery.”  
“Great. Mark will find us and not even know that we were killed by a demonic sculpture,” Renjun whispered. Jaemin sighed. He looked more tired than scared now. Or maybe he was better at hiding it.

“Just… Let me try with the door. Please.”  
Renjun stepped away. What was his choice? He could either do that or die out of exhaustion after pushing the door too hard.  
“Stupid basements,” he whispered. “There are no good basements. Every single one of them is possessed, apparently.”  
“What?”  
“I hate basements,” he translated.

“ _Monsieurs,_ ” Jaemin held the door open for them. “After you.”  
“How… How did you… But…” Jeno looked at him, eyes wide open.  
“I work out.”  
Renjun shook his head. Something was wrong. They’d tried it for a long time and nothing happened.  
“Maybe you guys loosened it up, I don’t know. Get moving!”  
They couldn’t argue with that. Instead, they jumped through the door. Jaemin followed and then shut it closed again.

“Holy fucking shit,” Jeno said, looking for batteries in his backpack. “That was intense.”  
“I’m never going to a basement again,” Renjun murmured, standing next to a big window. He watched the night sky, suddenly more comforted by the moon’s presence than he’d ever been.  
“I have a feeling we always say that,” Jaemin said with a smile. “In a year, when you’ll finally realize ghosts aren’t real…”  
“Bullshit.”  
“…we’ll watch our videos and every video will be like ‘oh, I’m never doing that again’. And you’ll do the same thing the very next episode.”  
Renjun couldn’t help but smile.

They waited for a bit. Jeno had to change the batteries and check how much of the footage was saved. Luckily, most of it survived. Renjun was wrapped in Jaemin’s hoodie already after the other boy had offered it because he “wasn’t cold”. Renjun felt it was a lie, but could he refuse a free hoodie? Absolutely no. So he put it on and enjoyed the smell of Jaemin’s cologne.  
In a bro way, of course.

“So,” Renjun said, looking at the camera. “We’re going to look into a few classrooms, and then the dormitories. We’ll try to take a nap there.”  
“You know he will run out of there after a minute,” Jaemin added with a smile. Renjun couldn’t deny that. He shrugged instead.  
“Maybe so,” he murmured. Jeno giggled.  
“Let’s go. I’ll go first. I need some nice shots of the halls, they’re creepy and aesthetically pleasing.”

They waited in silence. Renjun leaned into Jaemin’s warm body. How was he even so warm? That school was freezing, and after the basement incident he still had the chills.  
“What’s up?” Jaemin smiled at that behavior.  
“Cold.”  
“Ah.” He hugged Renjun and hummed happily. “Did the whole thing scare you that much?”  
“Shut up. It was just… A lot. I hate human-like objects. They’re always possessed.”  
“I still think that was just the wind,” Jaemin laughed. “Aren’t you happy it wasn’t the doll?”  
Renjun hit him with his elbow.  
“Stop saying scary things. They can hear you. And they will use that against us.  
“’They’ meaning?” Jaemin rubbed his back. That was kind of… calming.  
“The ghosts, obviously.”  
“Oh, right. Obviously.”

Silence for another few seconds. Renjun felt so much safer now, in Jaemin’s arms. It was warm. And it felt like home.  
“You guys feeling cozy?” Jeno asked, appearing out of nowhere.  
“Hell yeah,” was Jaemin’s answer. “Fuck that ghost biz. I’m gonna just stay here and cuddle with Renjun.”  
The said boy felt his cheeks heat up. Jeno looked half-hurt, half-amused.  
“Without me?”  
“Well, you lost the race.”

The atmosphere suddenly changed. Renjun cleared his throat.  
“Hey, boys. I’m not a toy car or anything.”  
“We know,” they said at the same time. He slowly moved away from Jaemin.  
“Let’s just go see some classrooms,” he said. They both nodded and stopped looking at each other for a second.  
Everything was back to normal, but not for long.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kajaskccnlKSJncdcn enjoy

The first classroom they picked was pretty boring. Jaemin drew something on a blackboard, Jeno and Renjun took some photos, but it was nothing memorable. The next door was locked.   
“We’re out of luck,” Jeno sighed.   
“Check the next door, I have a good feeling about this,” Jaemin said, raising an eyebrow. Renjun rolled his eyes.   
“You know we’re in a haunted place. You’re not supposed to have a good feeling about this.”

Jeno tried the next door. It opened smoothly.   
“Damn,” he whispered. “It’s a biology classroom.”   
“Oh, wonderful,” Renjun muttered. “I _love_ biology.”

They entered the classroom. It was terrifying from the very beginning. Taxidermy… Specimens that used to be birds and foxes were put on the shelves, covered in dust. There was an aquarium, still filled with water and smelling so awful they had to put their masks back on. But Renjun felt it still wasn’t the final punch the classroom had for them.

And, oh God, was he right.

“I found a friend!” Jaemin announced with happiness in his voice. Renjun followed him into a smaller, darker room.   
“What do you… FUCK! Na Jaemin!”  
His friend turned around, holding a skeleton close to his body.   
“Meet my prom date,” he said with a charming smile. Jeno snorted in the doorway.   
“Your mind is fucked up.”

Renjun gulped and took a step backwards. He didn’t like that. Not at all.   
Jeno took a few pics and came closer, joking with Jaemin. But then, his expression fell.  
“Wait… Shit, put that away.”  
“Why? Why don’t you accept my date?”   
“I’m not joking, Jaemin. This is not a model.”   
“They might not be the prettiest, but they could be a mod… WHAT!” Jaemin screeched, letting the skeleton fall on the floor. Jeno burst out laughing.   
“Good I have that on tape.”   
Renjun rolled his eyes.   
“You’re both the worst. Let’s go to the dormitories. It might be fun.”   
“Can I…”   
“The skeleton stays here,” he interrupted Jaemin quickly. The boy sighed.   
“Then see you later, my love,” he said, holding its hand. Renjun bit his lip. It all felt so… Uncomfortable.   
“Let’s just go.”

The corridor linking the school with the dormitories was long and dark. Renjun decided to once again grab Jaemin’s hand. Just for safety, he told himself. Nothing else here.   
“Did you guys notice?” Jaemin said suddenly, pointing to the walls with his flashlight.   
“That there are walls? Yes, we noticed,” Renjun said, rolling his eyes.   
“There’s no lamps. No light fixtures. It’s not because of the lack of electricity.”   
“And no windows as well,” Jeno noted. “That’s interesting. As if the school wanted the students to feel terror every time they walked through here.”   
“Thanks for putting it that way,” the smallest boy said, looking around nervously. Suddenly, the whole corridor became ten times more… sinister.

They finally got out into an open space. The first floor of the dormitories had white walls and dark, wooden floors. Renjun sighed. He liked that aesthetic far more.   
“I’d live here,” he said.   
“Right now?” Jaemin raised his eyebrows. “I can bring some ‘haunted’ things into our flat if you want. Like Anabelle.”   
Renjun screeched.   
“Of course not, stupid. It’s just nice. If it wasn’t haunted, I’d absolutely dig that.”   
“Anabelle would be cool,” Jaemin said. “As décor.”   
“Shut up.”  
“We could put her in the kitchen and make her hold a coffee can.”   
“We already have you to hold the coffee can.” Renjun opened the first door and smiled. “Now, let’s get to work.”

They entered the first room in absolute silence. The bed frames were still intact, but the room was empty. Hauntingly empty. They took some photos and left. It took them ten minutes to see the entire floor, besides one room.   
“This one is said to be haunted,” Renjun announced, taking out the spirit box.   
“Not _again,_ ” Jaemin hissed, looking at the machine with pure hatred in his eyes.   
“Yay, spirit box,” Jeno said with a suspicious smile.  
“Thank you, Jeno,” Renjun raised his eyebrows. What was going on with those two?

He pushed the button, turning the device on. The noise might have been a little annoying, but he was almost sure it was worth it.   
“Hi, ghosts,” he said, trying to stay calm. “It’s us again.”   
“Is Jiwoo here? Fuck you, dude,” Jaemin said, raising an eyebrow. Something fell off of a bedside table on the other side of the room.   
“Jaemin, what the fuck,” Jeno and Renjun said at the same time.   
“What? He lead us to the…”   
“ **Basement.** ”  
“Thank you,” Jaemin said, looking at the box. “Been there, done that. Not interested in going again.”   
Renjun watched him, half-scared and half-in awe. How much bravery (or stupidity) could it take…

“That was actually a good question. Is Jiwoo here?” he asked. Jaemin rolled his eyes at him.   
“ **Are you?** ”   
“Maybe we shouldn’t use the devil’s box,” Jeno said. The other Korean boy looked at him.   
“Oh, look at you.”   
“Guys!” Renjun hissed. He was going to lose it soon. “Let’s check out the thing that fell off..?”

They walked over to the bedside table. Slowly, no one really felt like rushing.   
“That’s just a book,” Jaemin rolled his eyes, picking it up. Renjun sighed.   
“Can we sit on the bed? Or will it kill us?” he asked. His legs were sore and he wanted to read the cursed book while sitting.   
“ **Sit** ,” the spirit box spoke up again. Renjun closed his eyes. What the fuck! What the fuck!   
“I am now not sure if you should,” Jeno said, looking at them with a worried look in his eyes. “I mean, let’s have Jaemin test it.”   
“Why me?”   
“Because you always do stupid things, obviously.”   
“Shut it!” Renjun said loudly and sat on the bed. Nothing happened. “Give me the book, Jaemin.”   
“But…”   
“The book. _Now,_ ” he hissed, raising an eyebrow. He waited until the book was given to him and looked at them. “I have no idea what’s gotten into both of you, but stop acting like kids in a sandbox. We don’t have the time for your petty quarrels now, so better hug and shake hands before I Karate Kid you both right into the Moon’s orbit.”

They both watched him with wide eyes for a few seconds, the silence interrupted only by the spirit box and its white noise.   
“I won’t wait forever. Apologise to each other right now.”   
“I’m sorry,” Jeno finally said. Jaemin sighed and looked him in the eye.   
“Me too, sorry.”   
“Now hug it out,” Renjun said, looking at the book. _Children. Unbelievable._

He blew some dust off the cover and looked at the title. ‘Mazes and labyrinths’, it said. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows. Wasn’t it the same thing? He’d have to ask his friends. So that could wait. Instead, he opened the book. A small piece of paper fell out of it. He picked it up. It looked very… Old.   
**_Don’t go into the basement. They didn’t get out._**

“Hey, guys?” he asked, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine. “How about we call it a night?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked it lmk!  
> tt: dejuns_eyebrows  
> cc: xiaodejun_   
> also what do you guys think about making this into like,, a series? with multiple chaptered works ("seasons") and oneshots from the au?


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy uwu!!

Jaemin and Jeno both looked at him, kind of lost.   
“Didn’t you want to check other things out?” the former finally asked. Renjun showed them the piece of paper.   
“Well, isn’t that cryptic,” Jaemin said while Jeno was filming and photographing.   
“Yeah. And… I have a feeling that the basement is a bit bigger than we initially thought.”   
“ **Finally** ,” the spirit box said. Renjun shivered.   
“Finally what?” Jaemin asked, raising his eyebrows.   
“ **Die.** ”

Suddenly, everything fell silent. Completely silent. Renjun looked up. Jaemin’s hand was on the on/off button of the spirit box.   
“Are we done now?” he asked. “These are random sounds.”   
“I don’t really think they are, but…” Renjun packed the device and the book. “Let’s get out of here, quickly.”

They got out of the room. Where was the closest exit…

_Thud._

Jeno jumped in his place and looked at his friends with fear in his eyes.   
“Not to be the Renjun of this episode, but this came from the…”   
“No, don’t say that.” The Chinese boy got pale.   
“The basement,” Jeno whispered. Jaemin sighed and took Renjun’s hand. He didn’t look particularly scared, but again, it was hard for Renjun to judge in the darkness when everything was shaky and sinister.

He let Jaemin lead him in the darkness. Jeno was right next to him, looking pale but still recording and holding a voice recorder. Renjun sighed.   
“Where exactly are we going?” he asked, looking at Jaemin.   
“The exit. Of course.”   
“How do you know where the exit is?” He furrowed his eyebrows. That sounded weird.   
“I saw it earlier. What, do you think I’m a ghost?” Jaemin snorted. Renjun squeezed his hand tighter. A very real Jaemin. Not a ghost. Right?   
“I’m not a ghost, stupid,” the boy whispered into his ear, amused.   
“Every ghost would say that.”

They got to a big, heavy-looking door. Renjun assumed every single door in this building was heavy and tough to open. And he wasn’t wrong.   
“I can’t open it!” Jeno said. They heard a loud sound right under their feet. It made the floor shake and Renjun really wanted to be somewhere else.   
“God, no one told me we’re doing ‘Blair Witch Project’ today,” Jaemin said and let go of his hand. “Let me try, you guys don’t have a way with that type of door.”   
Once again, miraculously, Jaemin opened the door.

Renjun sighed as they got out and cold, night air smacked him on the face. He started to really appreciate this feeling.   
“How are you so good at opening doors?” he asked, looking at Jaemin, who was a little flushed and looked very tired.   
“My grandparents had a similar one. They had problems with opening it all the time.”   
“Oh. So you’re not only a ghost hunter but a door specialist. That’s something to put on your resume,” Jeno said with a tired smile. “How do we get out of here?”   
“We call Mark and make him hate us even more?” Renjun suggested. The other boys nodded.   
“Great idea.”

“I thought you asked me to text you the hotel address for a reason, Huang Renjun.”   
“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me,” Renjun said, putting on the most convincing cute/scared face. It wasn’t so difficult, after all he was extremely scared.   
“I’m not, I’m not,” Mark murmured. “Is everyone inside? Great. God, you guys look like zombies.”   
Renjun sighed and put his head on Jaemin’s lap. He was exhausted. And Jaemin was warm. He looked up and smiled at his friend. Now he could fall asleep in peace.   
And he did.

Jaemin sighed, looking through the window. It was dark and he couldn’t really see anything interesting. But he could look at Renjun from time to time, and whenever he did, a smile appeared on his face. No one slept so cutely. It was Renjun’s special talent. He looked so calm and angelic, with a little smile forming on his lips.

When Jaemin looked up, he noticed Jeno watching him with raised eyebrows. He mimicked his expression. _What a…_  
“What happened?” Mark asked suddenly. Jaemin realised they were passing the same place for the second place. _Oh._ Mark wasn’t blind. He was their friend and a sort of… The big brother of their friend group. Of course, he could sense the tension.

“Nothing happened,” they both said since they were huge liars.   
“Sure. You haven’t said a word to each other since the school. And you’re _friends.”_  
Silence. Mark sighed and glanced at them.   
“Is it about Renjun?”   
“No,” they said in unison. Jaemin sighed. They were such bad liars. And Mark didn’t look like he was buying it.   
“We have the whole night,” he said. “So maybe talk it out. Renjun looked a bit worried. And you know how he is.”

Silence. _Again._ Mark looked at them and sighed.   
“You two are impossible. Do you want Renjun to feel sad and guilty?”   
“God, no,” Jeno said, getting pale. Jaemin sighed. The mere thought made him miserable. _As a friend._  
“Never,” he said quickly. Mark nodded, satisfied with that answer.   
“Then stop acting like that and talk it out.”

They exchanged looks. Jeno sighed and looked away first.   
“We’re just acting stupid,” he sighed. “I mean, we almost died today.”   
“We almost die every time,” Jaemin nodded.  
“You _what,_ ” Mark hissed.   
“Shush, Mark, can’t you see we’re having a moment?” Jaemin raised his eyebrows and looked at Jeno. “We’re a team, huh? We have each other’s backs.”   
“Exactly. And we do our best to keep Renjun from fainting and dying,” Jeno said with a smile.   
“He’s such a sweet baby,” Jaemin whispered, playing with Renjun’s hair.  
“We have to protect him.”  
“Damn right, cameraboy. Give me a hug.”   
They both laughed.

Mark parked the car in front of the hotel and looked at them. Renjun was looking at him with a smile.   
_Thanks,_ Renjun mouthed.   
_No problem,_ Mark answered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tt: dejuns_eyebrows  
> cc: xiaodejun_  
> i feel like the first 'season' might be ending with chapter 30 (and ofc new season will promptly follow bc i love writing this!)


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh enjoy some softness

Renjun opened his eyes. It happened again. He was in Jaemin’s arms, he was awake, he was so warm and everything felt so… Right. He sighed and looked up. Was Jaemin sleeping? How cute of him.   
Renjun smiled, letting himself stay in the half-asleep state of mind and think about all of the usual morning things. Such as breakfast, the sun, Jaemin’s long eyelashes and his delicate lips…   
_Wait._

He blushed, realising fully what he’d just thought about. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on other things. Yesterday’s wild school adventure. The way Jaemin had held his hand. No! The car ride. Jaemin stroking his hair and calling him a sweet baby. NO!

Renjun sighed and opened his eyes again. He looked at Jaemin with disbelief.   
“Get out of my head for a second,” he whispered. The sleeping boy pulled him closer, burying Renjun’s nose in his neck.   
“Why would you do that, baby?” the Chinese boy murmured, but he didn’t move again. Of course, the most bro-like way to answer was to stroke Jaemin’s cheek lightly. He inhaled deeply. Jaemin must have showered yesterday because he smelled very good. That wasn’t helping at all.

“My Mandarin is rusty, but did you call him baby?”   
Renjun froze. _Mark Lee.  
_“Did not. I would never do such a thing.”   
“Now I’m sure you did.”  
_Fuck._  
“Please, don’t tell anyone. I need to maintain my mean guy image,” he whispered, playing with Jaemin’s hair. Mark smiled.   
“Okay, your secret is safe with me.”

“What secret?” Jeno entered the room. He was already dressed and looked awake. Renjun let go of Jaemin’s hair, but the sleeping boy still held him close.  
“Secret? What? I don’t have secrets? What’s Renjun?”   
Jeno sighed and shook his head.   
“Wake the prince up, we’re hungry and Mark said breakfast’s on him.”   
“He did?” Renjun raised his eyebrows.  
“I did?”

Waking Jaemin up was very difficult. Jeno and Mark had left the room, wanting to ask about a decent coffee shop. He was alone with Jaemin. Who was asleep.   
“Jaemin,” he hummed, trying to find a way out of his arms. “We have to get up.”   
“Don’t want to,” Jaemin said and opened one eye. “Noooo.”   
“Such a baby. Get up.”   
“Can’t,” Jaemin murmured. Renjun rolled his eyes. _Right._ He had to use a different method.   
“Don’t you want breakfast?” he asked. Jaemin was wide awake in a millisecond.   
“Breakfast? I’d love some. Let’s go.”

They got dressed quickly. Renjun was hungry, too, and Jaemin kept talking about all the things he wanted to eat. It only made both of them more hungry. When Jeno got back, Jaemin almost squeezed him to death.   
“I see you got him to get up. That’s impressive,” Jeno said to Renjun, who smiled at them. He was _so_ glad they’d stopped the weird fighting-bickering thing.   
“Yeah, there’s nothing Huang Renjun can’t do,” he said. “Where’s breakfast?”   
“We’re going in a second. I’m here to help with the bags.”   
Renjun smiled, a wicked plan forming in his head.   
“Great,” he said in a sweet tone. “You boys better take care of that. I have to talk to Mark.”   
“But…” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the soft tone and even softer smile. Renjun was already leaving, but he stopped and kissed each of them on the cheek. And then he used their confusion to flee.

Jeno and Jaemin stood there for ten seconds, absolutely frozen.   
“God,” the former finally said, shaking his head. Jaemin just blushed.   
“So… Who’s gonna take his bag?” he asked after another ten seconds.   
“You can. And I’ll take Mark’s.”   
“Sounds fair.”

Renjun and Mark were standing in front of the hotel and talking quietly when Jeno and Jaemin arrived with the bags. The Chinese boy smiled at them.   
“See?” he said to Mark. “I told you they’d bring them. Now let’s go check out.”   
“Good idea,” the oldest boy said. Renjun smiled at Jaemin and Jeno.   
“Thank you, guys,” he said and left with Mark, who seemed to be very amused.   
“What exactly are you doing?” he asked, looking at Renjun. The smaller boy shrugged.   
“Making them pay the price for fighting and being mean to each other. And also getting our bags to the car. Show some gratitude.”

They ate breakfast in a dark coffee shop. It was okay, but nothing more. Jaemin seemed very disappointed with the quality of his coffee.   
“We almost _died_ yesterday,” he said dramatically. “And for what? Crappy, gas station-style coffee?”   
“I thought everything was just about the wind and loud pipes?” Renjun raised one eyebrow. “Are you saying you started to believe in ghosts and the supernatural?”   
“What am I, stupid? Of course not.”   
“You have cream on your nose, Booboo the Fool,” Renjun said, trying to keep a straight face.   
“Are you going to kiss it off?” Jaemin teased. Mark rolled his eyes. He was really, really lost in all that flirting. The _pace._  
“Oh, you want me to?” Renjun said, doing his best not to blush like a schoolgirl. He couldn’t lose that duel.   
“What, are you that eager?”   
They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Renjun had definitely missed that, this weird, bickering way of flirting.   
“Oh, kiss already,” Mark said, playing with his phone. “I’ll have something to send to Hyuck, at last.”

Renjun slept through the entire way back home. He was just very tired and wanted to be in his bed immediately. The fact that he’d just woken up wasn’t a big obstacle. He was _sleepy._ And Jaemin was there. Very comfortable.   
“I’m pretty sure he’s a panda bear,” Jaemin said when Renjun finally woke up. “They sleep a lot.”   
“Shut up and carry me home,” Renjun said. Even after all this sleep, he was still tired. The events of the last night kept coming back in dreams. _Basement, basement. They didn’t get out._

“Are you alright?” Jaemin asked, taking him out of the car. “You’re pale.”  
“Scared,” Renjun said, a little ashamed. His friend sighed.   
“Oh, you big baby,” he said, hugging him tighter. “I’m here. It’s alright.”  
“It is?”  
“Yeah. I’ll protect you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you liked it!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i heard y'all like soft renmin >:)))

When Jaemin got into the kitchen, Renjun wasn’t there. Mark and Donghyuck were, though, eating waffles and talking about something quietly. Hyuck was sitting in his friend’s lap and giggling. _Cute._

“Don’t you guys have your own house?” Jaemin asked, opening the cabinet to take out his favorite coffee mug.   
“Jeno invited us for a screening of your new episode,” Donghyuck said and took another waffle from the plate.   
“Jeno doesn’t live here, too,” Jaemin pointed out. “I guess Chenle and Jisung are invited as well?”   
“Yeah, Jisung just texted me. He’s asking us to make more waffles,” Mark said with his mouth full. Jaemin rolled his eyes and turned on the coffee maker.

He wondered if he should go and wake Renjun up. The older boy would probably appreciate that. But on the other hand, he’d looked so tired the day before, after recording the final scenes for the episode he’d gone straight to bed and hadn’t moved since. Jaemin didn’t want to interrupt his beauty sleep.

His problem solved itself pretty quickly. As soon as he pressed the “latte” button on his coffee maker, he heard a familiar voice.   
“Hey, guys. Why are you being gross in my kitchen?”   
Donghyuck smiled and squeezed Renjun in a tight hug.   
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!” he said. “We made waffles.”   
The Chinese boy smiled and reached for Jaemin’s mug.  
“And a latte for me? You guys know me so well,” he hummed and took a sip of the coffee. Jaemin sighed. Farewell, sweet latte.

They ate breakfast together, Donghyuck talking about his dance classes and a football match he’d played. Mark was holding him close and playing with his hair. Jaemin smiled. _How adorable._  
“I’m gonna make another coffee,” he announced. Renjun smiled.  
“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m full.”   
“Shut up.”

They heard a loud bang in the corridor. And then two voices saying _shit._  
“Oh, I guess that’s our kids,” Donghyuck smiled at his best friend.   
“Our kids?” Mark raised his eyebrows. Hyuck looked at him with exasperation.   
“You’re so stupid sometimes.”

Watching the video was an experience, as always. Jaemin watched it closely, sometimes making laughing at Renjun’s funny faces.  
“And we have a special surprise,” Jeno said when the video had ended. “Just for you guys. Only a few seconds made it to the final cut.”   
“Please, say _basement video._ ” Donghyuck jumped in his chair.   
“Basement video!” Jeno announced in the most anticlimatic tone ever. “You ruined the fun, Hyuck.”   
“Love you,” the other said with a smile. Mark looked at them with raised eyebrows.   
“Okay, can we just watch the video?”

Jaemin felt Renjun move closer towards him when Jeno pressed play. He smiled and took his hand.   
“That’s gonna be fun to watch. All the wind,” he said. Renjun and Donghyuck both rolled their eyes.   
“I thought all the batteries died?” Renjun asked. Jeno smiled.   
“I forgot about the little camera on my chest. It was the only one that worked. That’s why it’s so shaky.”

The picture was, indeed, shaky. But the silhouette of the sculpture was clearly visible. Jaemin watched himself open the door and smiled.   
“Look at me, I’m a hero,” he said. Donghyuck laughed.   
“Sure. How did you open it? It looked pretty closed to me.”   
“My grandparents had a similar one.”   
Hyuck furrowed his eyebrows.   
“I’ve been to your grandparents’ a few times. I don’t remember that kind of door.”   
“My other grandparents,” Jaemin smiled. “Is anyone else hungry?”   
“Very hungry,” Renjun sighed. “Are there any waffles left?”

They both ended up looking for something to eat. Renjun sighed, opening the fridge.  
“Chenle and Jisung are suspiciously quiet today,” he said. Jaemin nodded.   
“They look pretty tired. Maybe they played video games all night.”   
Renjun laughed.   
“Very probable. We weren’t much better when we first moved in.”   
Jaemin giggled, remembering all the sleepless nights they’d spent watching movies and playing Scrabble.   
“I’m gonna make them some coffee.”   
“I’m gonna stop you right there, sir.” Renjun put a hand on his chest. ”They are kids. No coffee for babies.”   
Jaemin smiled at him.   
“Renjuuunnie. You’re the baby here. Let them have some cappuccinos or something.”   
The Chinese boy blushed and looked away.   
“But…”   
“Remember how many coffees we had daily when we were their age?”   
“We’re an awful example!” Renjun whispered. Jaemin just laughed and pulled him closer.  
“Don’t you want them to look for ghosts, too?”   
“If they ever try to, I will lock them in our bathroom.” Renjun furrowed his eyebrows. Jaemin smiled.  
“Why the bathroom?”   
“Doesn’t have windows so they can’t escape.”

“Hi, guys. What are you talking about?” Chenle entered the kitchen. He looked at Jaemin’s hands on Renjun’s hips, and then at Renjun’s hand on Jaemin’s chest. “Oh my God. You’re making out. Shit. Jisung!”   
“We’re not… Why are you calling _Jisung_?” Renjun hissed.   
“Because… We might have a little bet going on.”   
“I’ll kill you.”   
Jaemin pulled him even closer.   
“No killing anyone.”   
Jisung entered the kitchen, yawning.  
“Who’s killing whom?”   
“I’m killing both of you,” Renjun hissed.   
“What happened to ‘they’re babies’?” Jaemin laughed, holding him. “Don’t worry, guys, I’ve got it. Want some coffee?”   
“Please,” they both said.   



	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoyyy

“Jaemin. Jaemin, wake up. We have _places_ to go.”  
Jaemin got up from the couch. His nap was interrupted. His day was officially destroyed. And it was only 9 in the morning.  
“It’s only 9 in the morning! How are you already napping,” Renjun sighed, massaging his temples. His best friend just sighed.  
“I’m sleepy. Where are we going?”  
“Ghost hunting. A nice, quick trip this time. No creepy schools. One ghost only.”  
Jaemin got up and looked at him with a smile.  
“When people in horror stories say this, they always die,” he said casually, earning an elbow poke.  
“Shut up and go pack your bag. Jeno will be here soon.”

Jeno got to their flat just before dinner, so Jaemin managed to take another nap. They ate together.  
“Can you tell us where we’re going?” Jeno asked. “It must be near since Mark isn’t here.”  
“We will go by car,” Renjun said with a smile. “But not with Mark. Not today.”  
“You’re scaring me. You have a ghost car?” Jaemin snorted. He regretted saying that when Renjun’s face lit up.  
“We can _do_ that?” he said. “Oh my God. You can decorate cars however you want, right? We can have a ghost car!”  
“We can’t even afford a normal car,” Jaemin said, but Renjun was already daydreaming.  
“We could be like the Ghostbusters.”  
“The neighbors would never stop making fun of us.”  
“Our videos would look so much cooler…”  
Jaemin just shook his head.

They got out of the apartment.  
“Please, don’t tell me we’re going by bus,” Jeno sighed. “Once someone tried to steal my things when I was on the bus.”  
“Who says I won’t steal your things? Like… Your heart.” Donghyuck appeared out of nowhere and smacked Jeno’s ass. Jaemin rolled his eyes.  
“What are _you_ doing here?”  
“Well, Renjun called me.”  
“ _Why?”_ Jaemin didn’t dislike Donghyuck. He just wasn’t a big fan of his nonexistent sense of personal space. Especially when he was near Renjun. The Chinese boy trusted him a lot and there had been a time when he’d spent a lot of time in his lap. Jaemin… had nothing against Renjun having friends. Of course. But that was a little weird. With Hyuck’s complicated relationship with Mark and all. 

“Because we need to get there somehow,” Renjun explained with a smile. Donghyuck dangled car keys in front of Jaemin’s face.  
“First of us all to get a license,” he hummed with triumph. “You owe me some money, Na Jaemin.”  
“Shit,” the boy sighed. Indeed, they had a bet. “Jeno, what the hell? We all counted on you!”  
“I didn’t know about a bet?” Renjun raised his eyebrows.  
“Because there was no way you could get a license, you’re too chaotic.”  
“I could get a license with my eyes closed!”  
“That’s dangerous,” Jeno said, but no one listened. Renjun and Jaemin were already discussing the former’s driving abilities.  
“I’m gonna sign up for driving lessons. Right. Now.” Renjun crossed his arms.

Donghyuck cleared his throat.  
“How about this: we’re gonna go where we have to go and I’ll sign you up for driving lessons with my guy.”  
Renjun smiled and hugged Donghyuck.  
“See? This guy believes in me.” He stuck out his tongue in Jaemin’s direction. The Korean boy did the same, trying to ignore the sting in his chest.  
“We’ll see how it works out,” he murmured, watching Donghyuck wrap his arms around Renjun’s small waist. “Let’s go, huh? The truth is out there.”  
“Hell yeah! Aliens!” Renjun said with a smile. Jaemin sighed. This car ride was going to be difficult.

Unfortunately, Donghyuck’s car had a radio. And a set of CDs with greatest k-pop hits. Not even a minute later, he and Renjun both were screaming out the lyrics. Jaemin watched them (mostly Renjun) with a smile. _Adorable._ While it certainly was a bit uncomfortable, all that screaming, a happy Renjun was the best sight for him.  
In a bro way, of course.

“We’re here!” Renjun announced with a wide smile. Jaemin looked out of the window. They were outside the town. A forest in front of them. A field behind them.  
“Yay. The great nowhere,” he said with a straight face, earning a hit on the shoulder.  
“We’ll see about that,” Renjun said and jumped in his seat.  
“I’m gonna stay here and call my driving lessons guy,” Donghyuck smiled. “Have fun, guys.”  
“Thanks, Hyuckie.” Renjun hugged him. Tight. Jaemin raised his eyebrows. He kind of wished they already were running from made-up ghosts so he could get Renjun’s attention.  
“Can we go already?” he asked, making Jeno laugh. Renjun got out of the car.  
“Impatient much? Come on, you big baby. You’ll hate it, I promise.”

They placed their chairs on the ground and Jaemin looked at the building. His face slowly lost all the color.  
“Oh, no,” he said slowly. “Oh, no, no, no.”  
“Welcome,” Renjun said in his most official voice. “To the Doll Museum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone i'm back from my trip and i can finally write!  
> hope you liked it, let me know in the comments, on my tt (xuxisearrings) or cc (xiaodejun_)


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written partly while watching eurovision bc that's what gay europeans do

“The museum has been closed since 2003, after a worker died during renovation,” Renjun said, sitting comfortably on the chair. For the first time, it was Jaemin who looked a bit… Disturbed.   
“That’s sensible,” he said under his breath.  
“Well, they didn’t plan on closing it down, initially. It was just that no one wanted to work there.”  
Jaemin sighed and looked at him.   
“And pray tell, why is that?”   
“Well, the room where the worker died was supposed to be a haunted dolls exhibition. Other people working there claimed that the dolls would sometimes move or make sounds, getting more haunted than they were supposed to.”   
“Oh, right.” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “Should’ve thought about it before they bought all those haunted dolls.”   
“Right? ‘Oh, oh God, the haunted dolls are actually haunted! Time to kill this business.’ Stupid.” Renjun smiled. “Anyway, the owner moved from the town and the museum has been untouched ever since. No one really wants to steal the dolls, that’s why everything’s in a very good condition.”

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows.   
“Okay, that’s… Not something I believe in. Everyone would love a haunted doll in their house.”   
Renjun snorted.   
“Sure. You see, the thing is… A worker actually took one home when the thing got closed down… And died a week later under mysterious circumstances.”   
“So like, the flu,” Jaemin said, rolling his eyes. Renjun raised an eyebrow. Was he trying to act bolder than he was feeling? Very likely.   
“No. Like, his body was massacred. And they found blood only on the doll.”   
“Bullshit.”   
“Well, why wait? Let’s get inside and meet the haunted ladies!” Renjun got up. Jaemin looked at him and, for a second, got a little paler.  
“Yeah, why not,” he whispered, standing up. Jeno showed them thumbs up.   
“Let’s get into it,” Renjun said with a smile.

He pushed the door, which opened with a quiet creaking sound. They had the cameras ready, and his backpack was heavy with equipment. And yet, Renjun had a weird feeling about this. Looking down the dark hall, he felt all of his courage evaporate. But he didn’t want his friends to see that. He took a deep breath and entered the building.  
“Should we keep the door open?” Jeno asked.   
“Don’t close it entirely, put something between the door and the doorframe.”   
“Oh, smart. We don’t want another basement situation.”   
Renjun nodded.

“Hey, everyone,” he said, reaching for his backpack. “We’re having a special guest helping us today. So get ready to greet the first female member of our squad…” He searched through his backpack and smiled in triumph. He took out a small doll. Jaemin shrieked.   
“What the _fuck,_ Renjun!”  
“Weren’t you the one who suggested bringing a haunted doll to our house?” Renjun asked sweetly. “This is Angelica. She’s motion activated. Get this.”   
He pressed an ON button and waved a hand in front of Angelica’s face. Demonic laughter came out of a small speaker. Jaemin shuddered.   
“I hate this. I’m not coming near that,” he warned.   
“Oh, you don’t have to. Our dear friend Jeno will now place her in the most active room. If one of the haunted dolls moves… We will know.”   
“Sure,” Jeno said. “Send me to the haunted dolls.”   
“Oh, they’re all haunted. Don’t worry.” Renjun smiled. Acting confident was going _great_ so far.

Jeno left with Angelica, humming something. Jaemin looked at Renjun.   
“How the tables have turned,” the latter said.   
“You’re just as scared as I am. You’re just trying to be superior.”  
“I might be, yeah,” Renjun smiled. “I never knew you were scared of dolls.”  
“One haunted doll is a-okay. But a whole museum? That’s like a fucking cemetery.”   
“You’re scared of cemeteries?”   
“No, it’s not what I…”   
“And you wouldn’t be scared if you saw a corpse lying around?”   
“You’re the worst,” Jaemin sighed. Renjun giggled and took his hand into his own.   
“I’m here with you. No worries.” He intertwined their fingers. That made him feel better, too. “I mean, it can’t be worse than the mannequins.”   
“Don’t say it, the dolls will hear you.” Jaemin smiled and squeezed his hand. Jeno was already coming back. Renjun didn’t let go of his hand, though.

“God, these dolls are scary as hell,” Jeno announced. “Angie’s there with a camera.”   
“Angie? You guys have nicknames for each other?” Renjun teased. “When’s the wedding?”   
“Funny, I was going to ask you guys the same thing,” Jeno said, making a close-up on their hands. Renjun’s face got red.   
“It’s not… We’re just… Shut up.”   
“Yeah, let’s go hunt some dolls. Ghosts. Whatever.”   
“Do not hunt the dolls,” Renjun rolled his eyes and opened the first door.

The room was full of dolls in hanboks. Renjun sighed, fascinated.   
“These are so pretty,” he said, getting closer to the glass cases. “Wow, the detail…”   
“They are _staring_ at me,” Jaemin said, looking very uncomfortable. Renjun squeezed his hand.   
“Look at that one. She’s so huge,” he said, admiring the child-sized doll in an intricate dress.   
“Yeah, sure. Hi, doll. You’re probably plotting our deaths already, huh?” Jaemin rolled his eyes. “I don’t like you one bit, doll. But guess what? You can’t do shit to me! Unless, of course, you break the glass.”   
“Stop doing _that,_ ” Renjun hissed. Jaemin smiled.   
“See? You could prove us wrong and scar us for life. What an opportunity!”   
The doll didn’t seem convinced. Jaemin sighed.   
“Let’s go to the next room.”

As they were heading out, Renjun stopped. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye…   
“What’s up?” Jaemin asked, but Renjun was already heading back to the big doll.  
“Her hands… Were they so close to the glass?” he asked weakly. Her little fist was almost touching the case.   
“I don’t know. Didn’t pay attention. Let’s go, it’s not like she could break it. She’s just plastic,” Jaemin hummed. Renjun bit his lip. He couldn’t stop being cool.   
“Let’s go,” he agreed. As they were leaving, he thought he heard a small thud, but decided not to look back.

The next room was full of porcelain dolls. Renjun shuddered. He didn’t like those.   
“I hate them, they have glass eyes,” he said.   
“All of them do, though?” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. “Hey, dolls, you heard that? My friend here hates you! Why don’t you make him love you?”   
“Can you like… Go back to being afraid?” Renjun hissed under his breath.   
“Can’t.”   
“Cool. I don’t think there’s anything interesting here…”

They skipped the Barbie room entirely. _What can be scary about a Barbie,_ Jaemin asked. _Body type expectations,_ was Renjun’s answer.

“Time for the scary room!” Renjun announced. And just as they reached the door, demonic laughter was heard behind it.   
“Something is moving,” he whispered, half-scared, half-excited. He squeezed Jaemin’s hand tightly.

“So are we coming in or what?” Jaemin asked and kicked the door open. “Hey, ghosts!”   
“You’re the _worst,_ ” Renjun whispered.   
“I definitely am. Nothing’s moving here. You lied to us, Angie,” he said, looking at the door with disappointment.   
“That doll did not sit on the chair,” Jeno said, furrowing his eyebrows.   
“Maybe you’re having delusions,” Jaemin suggested. “Out of fear.”   
“I’m not. We’ll check the cameras.”

Renjun entered the room. The dolls were… Unsettling, to say at least. Some of them didn’t have any eyes, some of them had half-melted faces.   
“I think it’s time for the spirit box,” he said slowly.   
“Oh no, not the Devil’s machine,” Jaemin hissed. Renjun took out the device and turned it on.   
“Here we go.”   
“Hello,” Jaemin said loudly. “Our names are Jaemin and Renjun! Can you introduce yourselves or say it back to us?”   
White noise. Renjun bit his lip.

Jaemin suddenly flinched. He heard a weird noise, as if… Someone broke some glass?  
“You guys heard that, too?”   
“Yeah,” Renjun whispered.   
“ ** _She’s here_**.”   
“You heard that!” he shrieked. Jaemin shrugged.   
“White noise.”   
“It’s not, don’t… Who’s here?”

_Thud._

_“ **Scarred.”**_  
“Na Jaemin,” Renjun hissed. “What did you do.”   
“I didn’t do anything.” Jaemin opened his eyes wide.   
“The noise is coming from behind the door,” Jeno noticed, pointing his camera and voice recorder towards it. “Jaemin, open it.”   
“Why me?”   
“You always do stupid shit like that.”   
Renjun grabbed Jaemin’s hoodie without thinking. He was no longer feeling confident.   
“Don’t,” he whispered. He did not want to die a horror death. But they heard another sound, louder this time.   
Jaemin opened the door.

The child-sized doll, dressed in hanbok, was standing straight on the floor. Renjun just outright screeched, no longer being able to form human words.   
“ ** _She’s here_**.”   
“No, she’s not,” Jaemin muttered under his breath. Renjun’s hand tightened around the material of his hoodie.

And then the doll dropped onto the floor, almost as if it was dead. Renjun screamed. Jaemin looked around.   
“Someone must’ve done this,” he said. “We have to leave, I think.”   
“We have some great material,” Jeno sighed. “But you’re right. Let’s leave.”

And they did. Renjun clung to Jaemin’s side.   
“I think the doll was fucking haunted,” he muttered when they left the building.   
“I think someone was fucking around. I’m glad we left, it might’ve been dangerous.”   
Renjun stopped suddenly.   
“We left Angie in the haunted room!”   
“Yeah, and we are not coming back for her. Someone will have a nice surprise.”   
“Bye, Angie…” Renjun sighed.

Donghyuck was waiting for them in the car.   
“I signed you up for driving lessons, Junnie… God, you’re pale as fuck.”   
Renjun nodded, sitting close to Jaemin.   
“That was scary,” he whispered.   
“I told you dolls were not a good idea,” Jaemin said softly. “I have an idea for the next one, okay?”   
“Cool. I’m gonna sleep now.”

“You guys should do a Q&A next,” Donghyuck said. Renjun opened his eyes.   
“Hyuckie. You’re a genius.”   
“I am?”   
Renjun opened the Twitter app on his phone.

**_Ask us questions!!!_ **

“That’s going to be… Interesting,” Jaemin said. But Renjun didn’t hear it. He was already half asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and you, too, can leave your questions for them in the comments uwuwuwu  
> also on my tt (xuxisearrings) and cc (xiaodejun_)


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone for submitting questions!! enjoy this chapter

Renjun jumped right onto the sofa and immediately bounced off it. He landed on the floor.   
“Ouch,” he said, laying on it with a miserable expression.   
Jaemin started laughing.   
“Jeno, do we have this on camera? Please say yes.”   
“Yes, we have this on camera,” Jeno smiled. “You okay, Jun?”  
“Except for the fact that my friends are assholes? Yeah, I’m alright,” Renjun sighed, climbing up the sofa. Completely accidentally, he kicked Jaemin on the shin.   
“Renjun!”  
“Are we ready to go? Yes, we are,” Renjun hummed and looked into the camera.

“Hi, everyone! Some of you have already guessed that, which makes you smarter than Jaemin…”  
“Hey!”   
“Welcome to our first official Q&A!” he announced, clapping his hands. “Yay!”   
“Have we done any unofficial…” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. Renjun kicked him again. What a great start.   
“Once you were very sleepy and answered random tweets,” Jeno reminded him. Jaemin’s face got red.   
“Shut up.”   
“I remember that!” Renjun smiled. “Someone asked you what shampoo you use and you said ‘sexiness’.”   
Jeno giggled and Jaemin puffed his cheeks.   
“Great. Make fun of poor, tired Jaemin,” he said. That only made Renjun laugh harder.   
“Poor little Jaeminnie,” he cooed, patting his head.   
“Shut up. You’re the one to talk about being small.”   
“Oh, you didn’t!”

Jeno sighed, looking at the chaos unfolding in front of him.   
“Guys, guys. The Q&A? Remember?”   
“Right,” Renjun straightened up. “Anyway. We asked you guys for some questions. Jeno has printed them out and we will answer them today!”   
“Let’s get right into it, I’m impatient,” Jaemin sighed and took a sip out of his iced coffee.”   
“Question one, unofficial. When the fuck did you have the time to get an iced latte?” Renjun furrowed his eyebrows.   
“I had to run. Your tea is in the fridge.”   
“Thanks, love you,” Renjun hummed and ran to the kitchen.   
Jaemin sat on the sofa frozen for three minutes.

“The first question,” Jeno announced when everyone had a cold beverage. “Renjun, wanna read that one?”   
“Yes!” Renjun reached out and caught a piece of paper. “ _Renjun, what got you so into ghosts/the supernatural?_ Oh, I love that one.”  
“Oh no, don’t encourage him,” Jaemin sighed.   
“Well, my grandma always told me about ghosts, about how your ancestors take care of you and stuff. And then I actually started experiencing some… weird things. It started when I was in third grade. We went on a school trip and the hotel we stayed in was very, very old. I went to bed, but couldn’t sleep. And then I heard children’s laughter in my room.”   
“You were a child,” Jaemin noticed. “Your roommate might have been watching a funny movie?”   
“It’s not like we had smartphones, Jaemin. And I didn’t have a roommate.”   
“They let a third-grader sleep alone in the room?”   
“The point is…” Renjun sighed. “I heard ghosts. And I got on some forums about them… That’s how I got into it.”   
“You were a crazy kid,” Jaemin smiled.   
“He was,” Jeno nodded, laughing. “But in the best way.”   
“Thanks, Jeno.” Renjun blew him a kiss and took a sip of his tea. Jaemin took the next question.

“ _Jaemin, when are you most irritated by Renjun?_ Oh, good one. All the time.” he rolled his eyes, earning another kick to the shin. “Shit, Jun! Just kidding. He’s actually really cool. The most irritating… Hm. Probably when he breaks the coffee machine.”   
“Hey! It happens to everyone,” Renjun said, smiling.   
“He did it today, too. That’s why we’re drinking Starbucks.”   
“Not sponsored,” Jeno said, raising his eyebrows.   
“But if they wanted to… With the amount of coffee Jaemin drinks…” Renjun giggled.   
“Shut up. But yeah, we don’t really fight a lot.”  
“Communication is a key to every relationship,” Renjun added.

Renjun looked at the next piece of paper and giggled.   
“ _Jaemin... why. Just, why,”_ he read out loud, trying not to laugh. Jaemin sighed.  
“How do I answer that?”   
“It’s the sexiness,” Renjun whispered, making a smug face.   
“Okay, I change my previous answer, I’m irritated by Renjun right now.”   
“No, you’re not.” The smaller boy put his head on Jaemin’s shoulder. “Ohh, this one’s for Jeno! Come here, Jeno, you’re famous now.”

Jeno sat down on the sofa, looking uncomfortable as ever.  
“I’m on the wrong side of the camera,” he muttered. Renjun smiled encouragingly.   
“ _Jeno, do you ship Renmin?_ What the fuck is Renmin?” Jaemin raised his eyebrows, looking at the piece of paper. Renjun’s face got red.  
“Of course,” Jeno said, ignoring his other question. “You’d have to be stupid not to do it at this point.”   
“What the fuck is Renmin! What does it mean!” Jaemin threw the paper in the air.   
“Point in case.”   
“Hey!”   
“Next one is for you also. Wow, you have fans,” Renjun hummed with a smile. “ _Jeno, how the Fuck do you handle renjun and jaemin being Like That?”  
_“Like what!” Jaemin sighed, exasperated, and took a sip of his coffee. Jeno ignored him again.  
“I don’t,” he said. “I’m so glad I don’t live with them. Can I go back now?”   
“No, there’s a lot of questions for you,” Renjun said, stopping him from standing up. “ _Do you believe in ghosts?”  
_Jaemin rolled his eyes. Jeno shrugged.   
“I… I didn’t when we started filming. Now I’m not sure, too many weird things happened to call them accidents.”   
“Oh no,” Jaemin whispered, making a scared face. “You spend too much time with Renjun.”   
The Chinese boy kicked him once again.   
  
“This one’s related. _How do you feel when your tech short-circuits in suspicious circumstances? What do you think happened?”  
_Jeno shook his head and winced. _  
“_ I hate when it happens. I’m the tech guy. I don’t like when something fucks with my stuff.”  
“He once almost killed me for changing the settings on his computer,” Jaemin added with a smile.   
“Yeah. And I’m not sure what causes that. It’s too well-timed to be accidental… So either ghosts or Jaemin.”   
“I would never,” the boy said, looking theatrically offended. “I don’t even know how to change a battery in a TV remote.”   
“Okay, another one… Also for Jeno. _What’s Renmin’s most oblivious moment?”_  
“What the fuck is a Renmin.” Jaemin was now getting more and more lost. Renjun just sighed.   
“This,” Jeno said with a smile. “And also like… Friendly hand-holding.”   
Renjun blushed even more, looking at his fingers intertwined with Jaemin’s.

He read the next question, wanting to avoid Jaemin finding out.   
“ _Jaemin, if there was anything that could prove to you the supernatural exists what would it be?_ I think if I died and turned into a ghost to haunt him.”  
Jaemin looked at him, suddenly serious.   
“Don’t ever say that,” he said slowly, pulling him closer. “To prove… Hm. Probably if a ghost yeeted me across the room, or did a full-body appearance…”   
“I hope you get yeeted,” Renjun snorted, leaning into him. It was natural… Safe.  
“Yoten?” Jaemin smiled at him.  
“Yoted?”   
“Anyway,” Jeno raised his eyebrows. “Renjun, _how did you start making your book of haunted places?”_   
“Oh, actually, it was Jeno’s idea.” Renjun smiled at the memory. Jaemin looked at him, surprised.   
“It was?” he asked. His voice sounded a bit… Unusual.   
“Yeah. In high school, we briefly dated… We went on a date to a haunted house and I talked about haunted places near us. Jeno suggested I should write them down and visit them when we get older,” Renjun explained. That felt like ancient history to him.   
“Oh, how cute,” Jaemin said slowly, his face getting kind of pale.   
“Oblivious,” Jeno whispered.

“Jaemin! _Would you be willing to visit a graveyard with Renjun?_ ” Renjun looked at him.   
“I am, and I can’t stress this enough, not scared of graveyards.”   
“He is. And scared of churches,” the Chinese boy whispered.   
“You’re scared of churches! I just really don’t like priests. So sure, a graveyard itself is fine. I’d be scared Renjun would do something stupid.”   
“Wow, thanks.”   
“But maybe one day?”   
“That’s a plan.”

It was Jaemin’s turn to ask questions.  
“Renjun, _when are you most annoyed by Jaemin?_ Oh, please, I’m so curious.”   
“Hmm. Probably when he does all the dumb shit in haunted places… But also when he acts so _tall._ ” The boy rolled his eyes at the thought.   
“I do not act tall!”   
“You pick me up all the time. You actually put things on the high shelves on purpose so I have to ask you to get them. You look stupid attractive in long coats…” Renjun’s voice sounded a bit… Dreamy, so he shut his mouth. But it was too late. He had to save his dangerous boy reputation somehow.   
“Why, thank you.”   
“He’s not even that tall, you’re just…”   
“Finish the sentence, Lee Jeno, and I’ll finish your life.” _Reputation saved._

“This one’s general, I think. _What has been your favourite location thus far?”_  
“Good one. I have to say the doll museum. Scared Jaemin was something new.” Renjun smiled brightly.   
“The mall. Renjun beating the shit out of that mannequin… Hot, objectively speaking,” Jaemin whispered. Jeno shook his head.   
“I’ll say the doll museum as well. With a creepy finale.”   
“ _What other places would you like to visit and what equipment do you/would you like most?”_   
“I’d love to see the Gonjiam hospital.” Renjun’s eyes lit up at the thought. _  
“_ I’d love to get rid of the spirit bitch,” Jaemin said, looking at him with a smile.   
“Spirit box,” Renjun said, rolling his eyes. “I really want an interactive teddy bear investigator. They’re so cute! And I think they’d do great in children ghost cases.”   
“Wow,” Jaemin said softly. He was still looking at him, his eyes full of adoration. Jeno just rolled his eyes.   
“I’d like an EMF meter. And one of those laser grid things. And more cameras.”   
“Yeah, those too. The bears are just cuter,” Renjun hummed with a smile.   
“The last question for today is… _When are yall going to get married renmin is superior.”_ Jeno smiled. Renjun just blushed and Jaemin sighed.   
“I’m googling Renmin when this ends.”   
“Don’t,” his friends said.

Renjun clapped his hands and smiled.   
“That’s all we have for you today. Look forward to the next video…”   
“I’m picking the place this time,” Jaemin added.   
“And it’s definitely not the last Q&A. Thanks for the questions, see you!”   
They waved at the camera and Jeno turned it off.

“Now, what the fuck is Renmin?”  
“God, you’re so stupid.” Renjun leaned into him and closed his eyes. He was tired and wanted to sleep.   
So he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry it took me so long to update but i went on a school trip   
> i hope you liked it and thanks for 5k hits omg


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!!!!   
> enjoy!!

“You just keep falling asleep in random places? I thought Jaemin was the nap master.”   
Renjun opened his eyes and looked at Jeno, who seemed pretty amused.   
“Where are we?” he finally asked. His friend rolled his eyes.   
“In Jaemin’s bedroom. He went out to get groceries.”   
“And what are you doing here?” Renjun sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Recently, he’d been getting less and less sleep, mainly thanks to nightmares. The only person who could manage his nightmares was Jaemin, but obviously he didn’t want to bother him.

Jeno sighed and looked around as if he was scared Jaemin was going to jump out of the closet.   
“I actually wanted to talk to you.”   
“Me?” The Chinese boy looked at him, bewildered. “Me, Renjun?”   
“Yeah. Why are you so surprised? You’re one of my best friends.” Jeno rolled his eyes.   
“Of course I am. I’m just not the person people usually want to have serious conversations with…” Renjun’s voice wandered off for a second. “Are you tragically in love with me? Please tell me you’re not tragically in love with me. That would be very unfortunate.”   
Jeno snorted.   
“Good God, no,” he said, earning a punch on the shoulder.   
“Hey! Am I not cute?” Renjun sulked.   
“Whatever you want to hear, sweetie,” the other boy patted his back lightly. “No, but it actually is about being tragically in love.”   
Renjun watched his friend’s expression fall. He sighed and took his hand into his own.   
“Oh, Jeno,” he said softly. “Come on, we’ll get cocoa from the kitchen and sit in my room maybe.”   
Jeno just nodded.

“Okay…” Renjun sighed, sitting down on his own bed. “Please, talk to me.”   
Jeno smiled falsely.   
“Oh, you know, I think I can manage…”   
“Jeno. Too late for that.” Renjun put their cocoa mugs on the night table and wrapped his arms around Jeno. “Now, tell Renjunnie everything, big baby.”   
“I’m not…”   
“Stop changing the subject.” Renjun rolled his eyes and looked him in the eye. “I won’t laugh at you, I promise.”

Jeno looked at him, then fixed his hair, looked around a bit, moved a few times. Finally, he ran out of ideas.   
“Okay. There’s a boy I like a lot,” he blurted out, blushing. Renjun nodded, patting his back.   
“Mm… What’s the matter with him? Is he straight?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Jeno didn’t exactly have luck when it came to dating.   
“No. Worse. He has a boyfriend,” Jeno sighed, laying down. “I mean, kind of. Not official.”   
Renjun shrugged and leaned into him. What could they do about it…  
“Well, at least you know he likes boys. And you could… get rid of the boyfriend?”   
“Not really. You can’t recommend me murder in every situation, Jun.” Jeno smiled at him, trying to act cheerful. Renjun didn’t buy it. He knew him too well.   
“I meant like… Split them up?” he said, rolling his eyes.   
“I can’t do that.”   
“Why? We both know it’s not about morals,” Renjun scoffed. It did happen before. No big deal. Right? Then why Jeno looked so… Uncomfortable? Renjun knew that face so well. There was a secret. A second part of the story.   
“Jeno,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

Jeno sighed, hiding his face in a pillow.  
“I like his boyfriend a lot, too,” he said in a muffled voice. Renjun looked at him, surprised. _Not exactly expected._   
“Oh, Jeno,” he said softly, patting his head. That sounded really difficult.   
“And I can’t really ask them about it because… It could possibly damage a whole friend group.”   
Renjun furrowed his eyebrows. A couple, two boys not really together, a part of a friend group…  
“Sweetheart,” he started, the realization hitting him. “Are you saying you have a crush on Mark and Hyuckie?”   
Jeno made a weird, choked up sound. Renjun sighed and hugged him. That was just heartbreaking to watch.   
“Come here. It will go away. Or maybe you’ll find someone else.”   
“I don’t want someone else.” Jeno looked at him and made a weird face “You have no idea how lucky you are to have Jaemin.”

Renjun opened his eyes wide. The weird feeling that he’d been experiencing in Jaemin’s presence lately was back and weirdly stronger.   
“What does Jaemin have to do with it?” he asked, barely able to speak. For a second he thought Jeno was going to punch him.  
“God, you’re both so oblivious. Do I have to spell it out for you, Renjun? You’re in love. That’s not a crush. That’s Love with a capital ‘L’. You let him provoke ghosts. He lets you break the coffee machine. You guys are basically married.”

Silence. Renjun was staring at him in a shock. No one had ever told him the truth like that. And everything Jeno said actually made sense…  
“Oh…” he finally whispered. Jeno bit his lip and pulled him close.   
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I shouldn’t have…”   
Renjun closed his eyes. He needed that truth.   
“Shut up.” He looked up and smiled at Jeno. “Don’t be sorry about anything. I’m glad you trust me enough to talk to me about things like that. And… We’ll figure something out. Get rid of the tragic love.”   
He needed to focus on that first. That was the best way.   
“And what about you and Jaemin?”   
Renjun sighed.   
“I have to think.”

“Think about what?” The door opened. Jaemin looked at them and raised his eyebrows. He made a weird face. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?”   
“Not at all,” Renjun hummed, sitting up and looking at him. “Come here. We have some cocoa left.”   
“Sure,” Jaemin sighed and joined them on the bed. “How was your nap?”   
“Great. How did I end up in your bed?”   
“You fell asleep in the kitchen so I carried you there. You seemed pretty happy about it.” Jaemin laughed and wrapped his arm around Renjun’s waist. Jeno just rolled his eyes.   
“I am,” Renjun said with a smile, leaning into his touch. _Love...?_ “I really am.”

He felt like the moment was idyllic. It couldn’t be interrupted by anything on earth…   
His phone beeped.   
“Fuck,” he hissed, reading the message. Jaemin looked at him, worried.   
“What’s up?”   
“It’s my grandma. She wants to visit us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the next chapter is going to be the last chapter in this season! are yall excited jakkdjasdalkjjkahsk   
> tell me what you think in the comments or   
> on tt: xuxisearrings  
> on cc: xiaodejun_


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy this roller-coaster of emotions!

Renjun scrunched up his nose, very annoyed. He couldn’t see _anything._ They were in Donghyuck’s car. It was dark outside when they’d left.   
And he was blindfolded.   
“Can you at least take that off?” he sighed in Jaemin’s general direction.   
“Nope,” his friend hummed, amused. “You can’t know where we’re going.”   
“I wouldn’t. I have no idea how your wild mind works anyway.” Renjun would’ve rolled his eyes, but it didn’t make any difference. Jaemin giggled.   
“As it should be. And also… It’s already complicated since we have to shoot it earlier.”   
“You don’t want to shoot when my grandma is in town. She’d kill you if she knew you’re exposing me to possession.” Renjun shook his head. He didn’t even want to imagine that.   
“Is she good with things like that? Ghosts, demons? Other made up stuff?”   
“Hey! Don’t disrespect my grandma,” the Chinese boy said and kicked in Jaemin’s direction. _No one disrespects Grandma Huang_. “But yeah. She’s pretty good at sensing things.”   
Jaemin shrugged apologetically. Then he realized Renjun couldn’t exactly see it.   
“Sorry for the disrespect. Ghosts still aren’t real, though.”

They sat in silence for some time. Then Renjun started getting impatient.   
“Are we there yet?” he whined, throwing his head back. “I’m getting dizzy. This is literally considered torture, Jaemin.”   
“How is that torture?” his friend rolled his eyes.   
“I feel like sitting in a void! Where are you?” Renjun stretched out his hands and started searching for Jaemin. Finally, his fingers touched the other’s nose. “Oh, hello.”   
“Hi,” Jaemin whispered, closing his eyes. Letting Renjun’s fingers wander a bit around his face. “How are you?”   
Renjun’s fingers touched Jaemin’s lips briefly. He quickly took his hand away.   
“Impatient,” he said, feeling himself blush. “Where are we going?”   
“Soon you’ll find out, kid,” Donghyuck said from behind the wheel. Jeno snorted.   
“I’m _older_ than you,” Renjun hissed. Before they had a chance to fight, the car stopped.   
“We’re here,” Jaemin announced with a smile. “You’re ready, Jun?”

Renjun was being led through some bushes. And he didn’t like that. Jaemin had his hand wrapped around his waist. _Maybe_ he liked that. But he still couldn’t see.  
“Great! Take it off, _now,_ ” he whined when they stopped. “Or I’ll kick your ass.”  
Jaemin giggled.   
“Wow, don’t worry.” He squeezed his waist tighter. “We’re almost there.”   
“God. You’re impossible.” Renjun leaned into him, glad it was too dark for anyone to see. Jeno started coughing loudly.   
“Should I put that in the video?” he asked. Renjun was going to kill him one day.   
“Sure,” Jaemin said.   
“Don’t you dare,” Renjun hissed. “Are we there yet?”   
“Yes, we are,” Jaemin said, stopping.   
Slowly and tenderly, he untied the blindfold.

The small restaurant stood in front of them, windows dark and empty. The air smelled like dust and summer. Renjun took a deep breath. He couldn’t hear cars or any noises, even the birds and the wind seemed to stop in here. The yellow color on the walls had faded even more since their last visit. A single ivy plant was slowly taking over one of the windows.   
The Kim restaurant was waiting for them.

“Oh, no. No, no,” Renjun whispered, barely able to make any sounds. “You want me to die, Jaemin.”   
“Well, that would solve the coffee maker issue…” Jaemin chuckled but stopped as soon as he noticed Renjun’s abnormally pale face. “I’m just kidding, Junnie. Baby. Please, don’t make that face.”   
Renjun breath was shaky when he let Jaemin take his hand into his own.   
_You’re in love._  
“I hate this idea. If I get killed, it’s your fault,” he finally said, looking at Jaemin.   
“I wouldn’t let anything harm you. Especially not made-up ghosts,” the Korean boy said with a wide smile. “It’s not like I’m gonna give them our full names or something.”

“What’s up, ghosts! Na Jaemin and Huang Renjun back at it again!”   
“ _Fuck,_ ” Renjun hissed. “Are you stupid?”  
The restaurant was exactly the same on the inside. It felt so… Weird, going back here. It hadn’t changed, but they had. They were now successful as YouTubers. Renjun was more willing to admit he was a little… Spooked… sometimes. And, of course, now he was (possibly) in _love._  
“Your restaurant is still LAME as FUCK! You need an interior designer and a wrecking ball!”   
Well, Jaemin was still stupid, at least.   
“Can you stop?” Renjun sighed, looking around. He felt… uneasy.   
“Want me to shut up? Come and punch me!”   
“Oh, I will,” he whispered. Jaemin smiled at him.   
“It worked last time.”

They got to the kitchen, avoiding spider webs, spiders and other unsettling but creatures. Renjun looked around. Ah, memories.   
“Time to use the spirit box,” he said slowly.   
“Spirit bitch,” Jaemin hummed and hissed when Renjun kicked him. “What?”   
“Shut up. It’s useful.” The Chinese boy pressed the ON button and sighed. “Hello. Our names are Renjun and Jaemin. Is anyone here?”   
White noise. Jaemin giggled.   
“Sounds like Mr and Mrs Chk-chk-chk are back at it again.”   
Renjun rolled his eyes and focused on the weird sounds.   
“Did you hear that? That sounded like ‘Jaemin’.”   
“That sounded like literally nothing. Shut up,” the real Jaemin laughed.   
“Is anyone here? What are you doing here?” Renjun looked around. Something felt weird.  
“ **Revenge.** ”   
“That sounded like ‘revenge’, don’t pretend it didn’t,” he said, voice just a bit shaky.   
“Oh, boo-hoo. It’s gibberish, Renjun. Never works.”  
“ **Gibberish**.”   
“Shut the fuck up,” Renjun whispered, looking at Jaemin with a mortified expression. Jeno cursed under his breath. That wasn’t something… usual.

The spirit box got silent after that. But Renjun felt something change in the air. Something was not right.   
Then they heard a noise upstairs.   
“Let’s go~!” Jaemin cheered with a smile. “Debunk some ghosts!”  
“Why do you keep doing this?”   
“Hey, ghosts! We’re going into your bedroom!”

Renjun opened the bedroom door with a shaky hand. Jeno made sure to take some good shots of the room.   
“Something’s moving on the floor,” he said suddenly. Renjun jumped.   
“You can’t just say that!” he whisper-screamed, pointing to the floor with a flashlight. And on the floor… A flashlight was rolling.   
“Fuck, no,” Renjun said, feeling very cold all of a sudden.  
“What’s up?” Jaemin asked.  
“Don’t you recognize this?”  
Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows.  
“Oh. That can’t be… Hey, at least we can take it back!” he said with a smile. Renjun hit him on the arm.   
“It’s probably possessed, stupid.”  
“Why don’t we do a cool thing!” Jaemin clapped. “Hey, ghosts, why don’t you turn on that flashlight if you want us out of your house.”

The flashlight kept still.   
“See, it’s nothing…” Jaemin stopped talking as the light flickered. Renjun closed his eyes. _No._  
“I’m having a deja-vu,” Jeno said.   
“Yeah. This time, though… We’re going to spice it up a bit.” Jaemin’s smile looked kind of… Mischievious.   
“What are you thinking about?” Renjun furrowed his eyebrows.   
“We’ll investigate the bedroom individually.”   
“I hate you.”   
“Too scared?”   
Renjun bit his lip.   
“Never. Lock me up,” he said, raising his head up. He was too proud to admit he was shaking.

As soon as the door closed, he regretted this decision.   
“Fuck you, ghosts,” he whispered. “I’m just sitting here… On the floor… I won’t disturb you, promise. And you won’t disturb me. Is that a deal?”   
Every little creak of the floor made him jump. He looked around and adjusted his grip on the flashlight.   
“I’m just gonna chill here. I have my ancestors with me,” he whispered. After a few more seconds he started humming an old song he remembered from kindergaten.   
Finally, he decided to use the spirit box. He listened to the white noise carefully.  
“Hello,” he said. “Why are you here?”   
“ **Get out.** ”   
“I didn’t hear that. I’m not hearing a thing.”   
“ **Stop**.”   
Renjun shuddered. The room got suddenly colder. And that was his native language, it couldn’t be accidental…

“Renjun? It’s time.”   
He sprinted out and looked at Jaemin.   
“Your turn,” he said, trying to keep his voice from stuttering. Jaemin looked actually concerned.   
“We thought you’d lost it in there for a sec.”  
“When you started singing in Mandarin. That was scary as shit,” Jeno added. Renjun sighed.   
“Let’s just… Let’s see Jaemin do it.”

Jaemin entered the room.   
“What’s up, ghosts!” he said. Jeno closed the door after him and looked at Renjun.   
“Are you okay, honey?” he asked.   
“Don’t call me this, I’m not a baby.” Renjun pouted. “I just got… Really scared and… HEY!”   
“What?” Jeno whispered. Renjun silently pointed to the end of the hallway.   
“Please, tell me you see it, too,” he said, his voice shaky.  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Jeno furrowed his eyebrows.   
And then, the shadow moved again.

“JAEMIN!” Renjun opened the door. His best friend was sitting on the bed and his eyes seemed to… glow? _What the fuck, Renjun. You’re delusional._  
“What’s up?”   
“There’s something there, something that’s moving.”   
“Can’t capture it on camera or anything,” Jeno said and cursed under his breath. “Fuck modern technology.”  
“Maybe it was your own shadow? Or something like that.” Jaemin grabbed Renjun’s hand. He seemed to be stressed, too. He furrowed his eyebrows.

The old flashlight’s lightbulb exploded.   
“Let’s get out of here,” Jaemin said. “It might have been a person. Again.”

They left the house rather quickly. Renjun took a deep breath as they got to the car.   
He didn’t look back this time.

Donghyuck started asking questions once they got to their apartment and Renjun made tea.   
“How did the ghost hunting go? Renjun! Say something!”   
“Ghost hunting?” an unknown voice said. Renjun froze. Then recognized the voice and turned around slowly.   
“Oh… Grandma…” he said, looking at the elderly woman. What was she doing there? _Fuck._  
“Did that boy say ‘ghost hunting’?” she asked, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. Renjun bit his lip.   
“Maybe. We’ll talk about it later, Grandma…” he said, hoping the subject would disappear forever. “Hey, everyone. This is my grandmother.”  
“Hello, Mrs Huang,” Donghyuck said with a wide smile.   
“It’s very nice to meet you…” Jaemin added. Wow, that was an unusual situation.

And next second, they heard Jeno scream from the ‘office’.   
“Renjun! There’s a kid in the editing corner!”   
“There’s a who…” Renjun whispered. Jeno entered the kitchen, annoyed, with a boy around their age, whom he held by the wrist.  
“Grandma… Who is that…” Renjun said very slowly. His grandmother smiled.   
“Your cousin. You don’t know him. I figured you should meet.”   
Renjun’s head was going to explode.   
“Hi. I’m Yangyang,” the boy said, smiling. Jeno looked at him and squinted.   
“Renjun.” His cousin (apparently) said, trying to stay calm.  
“I know! You guys do the…”   
_Not a word,_ Renjun mouthed.   
“The thing. With these… Other things.” Yangyang seemed to be very proud of his quick thinking. Renjun sighed.   
“Yeah. That’s us. The… Things guys.”   
“I’m gonna go to sleep. We’ve installed ourselves in the guest bedroom.” Mrs. Huang announced.   
“Goodnight, grandma,” Renjun said with a smile. Yangyang waved and left with her.

Silence. Renjun felt like he was going to pass out. Why was everything happening.   
“Who’s that guy again?” Donghyuck asked.   
“My cousin. I don’t know him.”   
“He seems pretty chill.”   
“I hate him. He messed with my stuff.” Jeno furrowed his eyebrows. “Anyway. This was a chaotic day and seems to me that you guys will have a chaotic morning as well. I’m going home.”   
“I’ll give you a ride,” Donghyuck said. Renjun watched as Jeno’s cheeks got a bit redder.   
“No, don’t trouble yourself.”   
“No trouble at all.”   
“Goodnight, guys,” Renjun finally said, rolling his eyes.

When he closed the door, he found Jaemin looking at him intensely.   
“What’s up?”   
“Are you alright? You seem… Shaken.” Jaemin ruffled his hair. Renjun smiled.   
“Well, you know, it wasn’t exactly the calmest day of my life.”   
“Mm… And what a finale. Both for the season and for the day. Hurray, a surprise cousin.”   
Renjun giggled, going to his bedroom.   
“Hey, Jaemin,” he said when they were about to part.   
“That’s me.”   
“Want to sleep here tonight? Not because I’m scared or anything.”   
“Oh.” Jaemin looked at him and smiled. “Why not. Just to make sure you’re not scared.”   
“ _You’re_ scared.”

Renjun sat on the bed and looked at Jaemin. They’d both showered and now he could admire how cute Jaemin looked when he was a little sleepy, but still excited about the day. The way his lips curled into one of those special smiles.   
“Did you like the surprise?” Jaemin asked.   
“It was scary as hell,” Renjun said, clinging to him. It was his instinct. And Jaemin pulled him closer.   
“Yeah, you looked pretty scared.” He started playing with Renjun’s hair. “But you don’t have to be so scared, you know.”   
“Because ghosts are fake?” Renjun asked with a smile.   
“No. I mean… They are. Not real. But also… I told you. I will protect you. And I know you will protect me. You and you’re karate kid abilities.”   
Renjun laughed and looked up at Jaemin.

He looked so ethereal like that. In the dim light of Renjun’s desk lamp, Jaemin looked like an actual angel. His eyes were sparkling, emitting some kind of… happiness?   
And he was looking only at Renjun.

When did their faces get so close? He could feel Jaemin’s breath on his own lips. His face felt hot and he found it a bit difficult to breathe.

And then Jaemin kissed him.

For a second, Renjun froze. He felt all kinds of emotions gather in his chest, making his heartbeat impossibly loud. But it all felt so _right._ Like that was his place in the universe. Just kissing Jaemin forever. He wrapped his hands around Jaemin’s neck and closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Jaemin whispered, moving away a bit. Renjun looked at him, wide-eyed and a bit dazed.   
“Why?” he asked, playing with his shirt. “I mean… why. I mean… I liked that.”   
“You did?”   
“Yes. I did. I like… you,” he managed to stutter out, feeling his face burn. “I mean, only if you like me. If you don’t, then… sike! I’m gonna drown myself in the bathtub.”   
“Junnie,” Jaemin said slowly, caressing his face gently. “I like you.”   
“You what?”   
“Thought it was kind of obvious if I kissed you.” Jaemin couldn’t help but smirk. His teeth looked a bit… sharp? But it was all so _Jaemin_. Renjun poked him in the chest.   
“Shut up.”   
“Excuse me?”   
“Shut up and kiss me again.”

And Jaemin complied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING AND I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKED IT  
> it's really... unbelievable that the first season is finished! as i've mentioned, the second will start soon (maybe even tomorrow or on saturday). i made it into a series so subscribe to the series to stay updated!  
> special thanks go to bea (markhyuckstea) who encouraged me to work on this fic (ily mwah); to my friends who listen to me talking chaotically about the plot; and to yall!!!! (special special shoutout for the people who comment on this i owe u my life)   
> tt: xuxisearrings  
> cc: xiaodejun_


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